When Wishes Come True
by LavieTyme
Summary: "So, all you did was wish?" The blonde nodded. She held up the small object that had been concealed in her hands so he could see it. "All I did was wish, though I went through a lot of paper to get a thousand."
1. Who the Hell Are You?

**_Heheh... This is my first fanfic for Nurarihyon no Mago, and Guess What? I did it with one of my best friends, Eevee-Chan (not her real name). We had a lot of fun writing this, so we hope you have as much fun reading it!_**

**_As always, a disclaimer: No, we sadly do NOT own Nurarihyon no Mago, only our OCs._**

* * *

_Easy._ That's the only word that came to mind when describing origami. What wasn't so easy was trying to read while folding paper cranes. As she read one of her favorite mangas, Nurarihyon no Mago she sighed and wished that she could go to that world, the world of Yokai, the one she dreamed of going to even since she discovered it. She sighed as she finished folding the wings of the final crane of that night. She leaned back, clutching the manga to her chest after she finished one last chapter, and accidently hit her head on the wall behind her.

The manga dropped from her hand to hold her now throbbing head. _I don't remember it being… this dark, _she thought and looked around confused. _Or this cold._ Realization struck her with that final thought. It was quite obvious now that she was no longer in the confinements of her room. She stood up and looked around in the dark, frigid air that surrounded her.

The girl shivered and reach for her only item of familiarity. Clutching the book tightly, she wandered to the nearest wall and felt a wooden gate. For some unknown reason, the gate was unlocked and she pushed open one of the large doors. She walked through the doors, and saw a light not a far distance away. She went over and opened a door leading into the room. It seemed oddly familiar to her. She yawned, really tired all of a sudden, so she laid down on the floor of the room and, holding her book to her chest, she fell asleep.

Miya had forgotten to lock the gate doors when she came back to the main house, one of the only things she really did at the main house. _Why is it open?_ she wondered when she saw it, but shrugged it off. _It was probably just the wind or something._ The brown-haired Yokai closed the gate and locked it, then returned to the main house. She noticed the light in the young master's room was on. She went over and not looking in, reached in and turned the light off. _Oh yeah that's right. In the morning I have to do Tsurara-chan's chores since she's out patrolling and won't be back until late tomorrow morning.._

_With the young master, too, _she thought with a smirk. She had been aware of Tsurara-chan's feelings for Rikuo-sama for a very long time and never hesitated to tease her about it when those rare moments where they talked with each other arose.. Even though she rarely talked with Tsurara-chan, she'd almost never talked to the young master. She only saw him when he walked past her, if anything she had spoken with the supreme commander more than she had spoke with Rikuo-sama. She wondered often if anyone noticed she was hanging around.

Miya walked inside the main building and looked around, there weren't any other members of the Nura Clan around at the moment, most of them being out on patrol with Rikuo-sama. She sighed and walked around the building, making sure that her chores, as well as Tsurara-chan's, were completed. Then she decided to go out back and practice her sword techniques, even though she may not ever be asked to go out on patrol, or out to fight at all, though she always made sure she was at top performance. Just in case.

The dawn light was starting to shine down on the young Yokai's practice session. As usual, she practiced long and hard. When the sun had risen to what she assumed was about breakfast time, she stopped practicing and went to go start on the morning chores. She sighed as she walked towards Rikuo-sama's room with a laundry basket in hand. She opened the door and peered inside. Miya was shocked. Had the young master already been home?

The large lump on the floor didn't look anything like Rikuo-sama. It was small, had long, _braided_ blonde hair, and had a really small, feminine build. _Was it possible that the young master had found a human and saved her or something? Though I haven't heard any word of him returning yet, and he isn't supposed to be home for another few hours… _Miya thought. She wasn't hesitant to walk over and poke the form with the flat edge of her blade, and pushing the blanket off with the weapon.

"Hello?" she asked and poked the girl again.

The girl looked up at her with tired eyes, apparently not registering that she was being poked with a deadly weapon. The "girl," as Miya now realized what it was, seemed completely dimwitted.

"Where am I?" the girl asked, yawning.

"You're in the main house of the Nura Clan. 'What are you doing here' should be the question." _Especially in the young master's bedroom..._ Miya said putting her hands on her hips, blade in hand and an expectant look on her face. The girl looked up at her, finally looking surprised for once. Yet, she wasn't looking at the blade…

"I'm at the Nura main house?" she asked. "This place? Right here?"

Miya sighed. "Yes that Nura Clan main house, I thought I made that fairly clear."

The girl seemed to smile very… brightly at that. Miya watched in confusion as she punched her fist into the air. _Why is she so happy about this? Maybe it's because she has a crush on the young master and is now realizing she's in his room?!_ she thought and gasped _No! I refuse to let that be the reason, Rikuo-sama is Tsurara-chan's!_

Suddenly, the girl stopped her little parade of happiness and looked hard at Miya. She quickly jumped to her feet and walked, unsteadily, towards her. Finally she stopped at a very uncomfortable distance away from her face. Miya took a small step back, eyeing Tsurara-chan's possible love rival.

"Who the hell are you?" the girl asked.

Miya raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean who the hell am I? I should be asking you that. You're the one who was sleeping in the young master's room!"

The girls eyes widened and her cheeks grew red. Like, red red. "What?!" she exclaimed. Miya looked at the girl's red face. _Why is she blushing so hard? Could it be she really is a love rival of Tsurara-chan's!? _

The girl bowed deeply, mumbling something too low for Miya to catch. When the girl finally lifted her head she was surprised to see tears forming in her eyes.

"G-gomenasai!" she shouted. "I'm so totally embarrassed. Please forgive my intrusion." The girl made a beeline for the door, which apparently she had forgotten was being blocked by Miya.

"Eh?!" Miya stood strong in the doorway. "Why in the world are you apologizing to me? Besides, are you not a human, because, not too long from now, the other Yokai will be returning from patrol. So I don't think you want to go out there." she said flatly and watched the girl, sword still dangerous and handy.

The girl stopped "crying" and looked pointedly at Miya. "Why would I be worried about them? Rikuo won't let them hurt me."

_I might hurt you though if you even look at the young master...'_Miya thought to herself and stayed in the doorway. Finally she realized what the girl had called him.

Miya brought her fist to the girl's head, causing her to rear back with tears once again forming in her eyes. "You do not speak the young master's name in such a casual manner! You must use proper honorifics!" Miya fumed. The girl clutched her head and knelt on the ground.

"Ow~," she said. "Stupid Yokai."

Miya brought the blade of the sword to the girls neck; she was definitely pissed off now. "You know, by saying 'stupid Yokai,' you're also referring to the young master, and the supreme commander, and Tsurara-chan! I will not allow a thing like that to be said, especially in Rikuo-sama's sleeping quarters!" the brunette raged. She might actually hurt this girl if she insulted the young master again, or any Yokai for that matter.

The girl's face flushed again when she said his 'sleeping quarters.' She put her hands over her face, trying to hide her embarrassment. The girl, finally feeling the cold blade against against her neck, shrieked and tried to crawl away. Wherever she went, the blade closely followed.

Finally, the girl found herself backed into a corner of the room, which just so happened to be where her manga was laying. For some reason she stopped running away from Miya's blade and just… sat. Miya tried peering over the girl's shoulder to see what she was doing and saw the small book. She lowered the sword a little and snatched the book from the girl. She started flipping through the pages.

To her ultimate surprise she saw many pictures of Tsurara-chan, RIkuo-sama, the supreme commander, and other Yokai from the Nura Clan, _and_ the other clans, though to her disappointment, there wasn't even a mention of her name, or a picture of her in the background. As much as she was curious to see what this book that had a perfect representation of things that had happened in the past few months, she was totally upset at the fact she wasn't in there.

"... You're crying," the girl said bluntly.

Miya dropped the book on the girl's head and turned to face the other direction. "You're seeing things." she then quickly changed the subject and said accusingly, "You never said who you are or why you're in the young master's bedroom you know!" she whirled and faced the girl again, the blade pointed, yet again, at the girl, whose face was turning red.

"Could you please stop saying that?" The girl asked, her eyes then shifted to the blade. "And could you please stop threatening me with that?"

Miya quickly got angry again, though not as extreme as before. "No, and no. Now answer the questions," she said flatly and moved the blade so that she knew the girl could feel it on her skin. The girl flinched.

"Alright, I'll tell you," the girl said with a glint of fear in her eyes. That fear, to Miya's disappointment, disappeared soon after her eyes looked past her shoulder.

"... Miya?" a soft but chilly voice said.

MIya spun around, recognizing the voice, her sword dropping to her side. "Eh!? Tsurara-chan!?" She then also noticed that Rikuo-sama, in his day form was standing there too. "Y-young master! I-I… gomenasai!" she apologized immediately and bowed deeply to the two of them. Her face was beet red in embarrassment. She closed her eyes tightly and hoped they wouldn't be too mad at her.

"Miya-chan, was it?" the young master asked. Miya looked up when her name was said, slightly fearful of the consequences of her actions. She was surprised to see a smile on his face.

"Why are you apologizing?"

"I-I-I…." she stammered, unable to respond to his question. It was then that he noticed the girl sitting behind her, looking oddly triumphant.

"Ah, and who might you be?" he asked. The girl stopped smiling and stood up, walking towards Rikuo until she stood face to face with him. They stood there for a moment in awkward silence, when suddenly…

"Omigosh! You're really Rikuo! Rikuo Nura-kun!" she exclaimed and wrapped her arms around him. Rikuo stood there, unsure of what to do. Finally he decided an awkward hug in return seemed rather appropriate for the situation. Neither of them realized that the atmosphere had suddenly taken a dark turn.

Both Tsurara and Miya were immediately fuming with anger. They were both resisting the temptation to go up and murder that girl for touching the young master in such a way, and the way that she had spoken to him. Tsurara held in the want to freeze the girl in a block of solid ice and push her frozen body off a cliff. While Miya gripped the hilt of her sword so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. They both were giving the girl death glares, and if looks could kill, she's be dead a thousand times over.

The girl seemed to realize the intentions of both the other females in the room and quickly let go, smiling shyly in a totally innocent-looking way. She stepped as far away from Rikuo as she could and bowed.

"Sorry," she said. "My name is Karen."

Neither Tsurara nor Miya said a word. Tsurara went over and grabbing both Miya and Rikuo's hands she pulled them out of the room and started walking down the hallway. Tsurara's hands were freezing cold due to the extremity her anger. Miya followed willingly and made sure that Rikuo didn't even look back at the girl who called herself 'Karen.' _I mean, that has to be a fake name, right?_ she thought.

The girl, now named 'Karen,' stood there in silence. Just… silence.

"They're… gonna come back, right?" she asked no one in particular.

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_** So. Whad'ya think? If ya liked, please sub- (damn it. I wanted to say subscribe. THIS ISN'T YOUTUBE, BRAIN!), sorry, I meant favorite, follow, and always appreciated, review. We love hearing your voices and opinions, people. Constructive critisism is also nice to have if you want this story to be better. **_

_** Thanks, peeps!**_

_** Mmmmm... peeps...**_


	2. Can I Just Die Now?

**New Chapter. There's no set time for updating yet... So yeah. Some chapters may have a couple hours difference, or a span of a few days, or (hopefully not) a span of a couple months...**

**DISCLAIMER: We no own Nurarihyon no Mago. **

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Kubinashi watched as Yuki-Onna and a Yokai he never got the chance to really know dragged the young master away from his room. They both were surrounded by an immense amount of 'fear.' He was curious. What could have gotten them to that kind of state?

He headed in the direction they were walking away from, which just happened to be the young master's room. Kubinashi glanced inside, but, to his surprise, nothing was there. Had he missed out on something?

"Kubinashi," he heard a voice behind him say. Said person turned around and looked at Kurotabou, who had his shoulder placed on some girl's shoulder. She grinned at him sheepishly, in a way that made him think they had met somewhere before.

"Kurotabou, who is this?" Kubinashi asked.

Kurotabou shrugged. "I don't know. I just found her standing in the young master's bedroom. Did you see Yuki-Onna and the other Yokai walk off? The two girls seemed like they could kill someone."

Before Kubinashi could reply, the strange girl interjected.

"That would be my fault," she said. "I might have crossed a boundary or two with them. No biggie." She shrugged her shoulders as if things were alright, but like any human, she had feared the Yokai.

Kurotabou turned his attention to the girl. "I wonder what boundaries you crossed. Yuki-Onna is the type of Yokai who would freeze you solid if you made her mad enough. Although, I don't know the other Yokai who was with them. I haven't seen her before."

The girl grinned again. "That Yokai girl wouldn't like hearing you say that."

"The young master wouldn't have allowed that to happen, Kurotabou," Kubinashi replied. "This girl is a human, after all."

Kurotabou nodded, "That's very true. I'm assuming that's why she didn't do anything. Besides drag the Yokai girl and Rikuo-sama off at top speed. Leaving a trail of ice at her feet as well." he said and pointed in the direction the three had gone. Sure enough, there was a large trail of ice on the floor. Kubinashi sighed. That was so like Yuki-Onna to do that when she was upset. He looked at the girl. _She must have done something drastic to piss them off this much,_ he thought.

Kurotabou was thinking the same thing. He turned to the girl again and asked bluntly, "What did you do to upset them so?"The girl blushed profoundly as she realized what exactly she had done, something she had never done in the past with a boy.

"I… I actually hugged him," she said. She looked thoughtful for a moment, then punched her fist in the air, almost hitting Kubinashi's head and making it go flying. "Hell yeah! Oh, sorry Kubi."

"No wonder." Kurotabou said to himself then walked off. He did not want to be anywhere near Yuki-Onna when she was upset like this.

Kubinashi shook his head and walked off in the opposite direction. The girl was left alone once again. Karen groaned. _I don't want to be left alone, _She thought. _This place is huge! How am I supposed to find my way around this place? _ She started walking in the direction Kurotabou had headed, lost in thought. _I mean, I kinda know where some things are. Sorta. Not reall-_

She was interrupted when she ran into a large form, one that she could feel emitted a lot of fear. She looked up and tried to smile at the scowling form.

"I'll just... leave you be," she said and starting walking the other way.

* * *

Back with the two pissed off Yokai and a confused Rikuo, Tsurara's hands were still freezing with anger, although the trail of ice behind them was getting smaller. Miya walked along with them, still fuming as well. That human girl, 'Karen," had pissed her off multiple times. She needed to go take a swim to cool off. Not that Tsurara-chan's hand wasn't cooling enough though.

Tsurara eventually had led them outside to where the sakura tree was. She stopped walking, though she didn't let go of either Rikuo or Miya's hands. She was still way too angry.

"T-Tsurara," Rikuo said. He tried to pull his hand away from her grasp, but it was like iron. "Tsurara, what's wrong?"

"Eh!?" Tsurara momentarily calmed down long enough to let go of their hands. "Oh! Sorry Waka!" she apologized quickly. Rikuo gave her a confused smile. That was a quick change from how she was just a moment ago, he thought.

Tsurara smiled at him; she was still most definitely angry, though she would not let Rikuo-sama see her like that, well at least longer than he already had. Miya had stayed quiet and watched them. She was still holding onto her sword tightly, and when she realized how tight she was holding it she loosened her grip a little.

Rikuo turned to the young Yokai he had only just called by name a few moments ago. He could sense her rage, though he still didn't understand why. His smile disappeared.

"I want you both to tell me what's going on," he said. "Why are you so angry, and who was that girl? What was she doing in my room?"

The girls both looked at him and debated on how to answer. Neither of them were going to say a single word about why they were so angry at the girl. Well, because, neither of them were going to say that it was because Tsurara had a massive crush on him, even if she tried to hide it. Miya spoke up, though she completely avoided his first question: "Well, I'm not sure who she is, or where she came from. Though I found her sleeping in your room this morning when I went to get your laundry for Tsurara-chan since she wasn't here at the time." she explained the best she could.

"Did you try asking her?" he asked, patiently awaiting an answer.

"Technically I did, although she started to insult you, and Yokai in general, that's one of the reason's I was a little mad." Miya admitted and averted eye contact with him. Rikuo shook his head.

"What exactly were you doing before Tsurara and I walked in?" He asked.

"U-umm, well, I was….." she stumbled around for an answer that wouldn't make him too mad at her.

"She tried to kill me," a voice piped up from the shadows. The three of them turned and looked behind them where Karen was standing.

Miya shrank back and took a few steps back, not wanting to be in existence at the moment. Why was it that the first time I'm being paid any attention by Rikuo-sama, is to be punished for wanting to kill someone who had insulted him and other Yokai? she thought nervously.

What surprised her was that Karen put up her hands before Rikuo-sama could take any action. "I… I provoked her. It was my fault," she apologized, then grabbed Rikuo's hands. "Please don't punish her. It was honestly nothing."

Tsurara and Miya flared with anger again when the girl took Rikuo-sama's hands. Karen seemed to notice and quickly dropped them, holding her hand up again and backing away. Rikuo looked back at them and saw the two Yokai's expressions. That was a smart move on her part, he thought.

When they realized that Rikuo had turned to look at them, even though he had already seen their expressions, the deadliness of their looks went away a little.

"I-I never really planned to," Rikuo said. "Well, maybe… I mean… um." He was just confusing them all.

Miya bit her lip a little as she listened to him speak, she was slightly relieved at his first statement though.

"Alright!" Rikuo said, surprising the small group of people. "I won't punish her. Just, please don't do that again."

Miya was definitely relieved at his decision and she bowed deeply, "Thank you Waka! I won't I promise!" Rikuo smiled, seeing that he had made her happy.

The group was approached by a small, wrinkled man with a large gourd-shaped head accompanied by a small black crow. Nurarihyon had come to see what was going on.

"Rikuo, is something the matter?" He asked. Seeing first the human Karen and then the yokai, he smiled and brought out a bag of disgusting candy, offering it to the two. "Who might you be? Some of Rikuo's friends from school?" he asked.

Tsurara and Miya greeted the supreme commander, however, Miya was cut off by the question of who she was. She pouted a little and a gloomy atmosphere surrounded the Yokai girl. "We just spoke this morning…" she grumbled then walked off in the direction away from them all. "I'm going for a swim." she mumbled, upset. Tsurara watched then followed without thinking, "Wait! Miya-chan! I bet he didn't mean it!" she chased after her, not wanting her to be to upset, when she was far enough away that the supreme commander couldn't hear her she added, "And he's old! It probably just slipped his mind!"

Nurarihyon, Karasu Tengu, and Rikuo watched as the two girls walked off, one in hot pursuit of the other. His comment must have struck a nerve with that girl, the one with the brown braid. Their individual thoughts on the situation were interrupted when Karen gasped in surprise.

"Wow, your head really is big," she said, suddenly realizing that he was standing right there. When he looked at her she tried not to upset him by laughing. It was hard to hold in.

"Young girl, you are talking to the Supreme Commander," the black crow said.

"It's alright, Karasu Tengu," Nurarihyon said. Rikuo was surprised that his grandfather had been completely fine with that. Suddenly, Nurarihyon turned to Rikuo. "This girl is human, is she not?"

Rikuo nodded and it dawned on him that there was a human girl in the middle of a Yokai mansion. He panicked and looked at the girl who was just… standing there, watching them with an interested expression.

"I know all about this place," she said. Rikuo cringed. Is she some sort of stalker? he thought as she stepped closer to the three of them.

"Nurarihyon, supreme commander of the Yokai, though I'm assuming that this is sometime after the Nue was resurrected, so that means former commander. Karasu Tengu, the crow Yokai who has three fool "sons" even though one of them is a girl. And then Rikuo, grandson of Nurarihyon, the third heir. Only one-fourth Yokai," she said and grinned.

Tsurara reached a small nearby river and looked around. "Miya-chan? Where'd you go?" she asked. The top of a brown haired head appeared out of the water, and a grumpy looking Miya, well, at least her head, looked at Tsurara. "I'm right here Tsurara-chan."

Tsurara looked at her, "Oh! Miya-chan, you okay? I highly doubt that the supreme commander meant any harm!" Miya huffed and she frowned, "He still doesn't remember me, even though I spoke to him just this morning. When I was asking him where Rikuo-sama's room was so I could do your chores. Am I really that unnoticable?" she asked crossing her arms under the water and looking at Tsurara-chan.

"Miya-chan? What are you doing here?" Kappa, who suddenly appeared behind her, said. "Oh, hello Yuki-Onna."

Miya turned around in the water and saw Kappa. "Oh hi Kappa-san. Nothing really, just being unnoticed."

Tsurara was a bit surprised by Kappa's sudden appearance, though she shouldn't have been. "Hello Kappa." she smiled a bit. He nodded back.

"Who was it this time, Miya-chan?" he asked her. She looked even more pouty the before.

"The supreme commander. He forgot about me even though I talked to him earlier this morning."Miya said frowning. Kappa looked at her in surprise.

"The sodaisho?" he asked to clarify. He never thought that Nurarihyon would be one to forget someone he talked to regularly.

"Yeah." she nodded, "He thought I was one of Rikuo-sama's friends from school…"

Kappa shook his head in disbelief, but when he looked at the expression on both Miya and Tsurara's faces, it confirmed what she had said.

Tsurara nodded, "Yeah, I was there. He said it so casually, too. I understand why you're so upset Miya-chan."

"Miya-chan! Tsurara~!" Rikuo calls from behind them. Tsurara turns and sees him. "Oh! Waka!" Miya stayed where she was, she couldn't see him from where she was, so he probably couldn't see her either. Kappa had disappeared.

He was panting when he reached them. He looked around for a second, sure that the Yuki-Onna was in the company of Miya. "Where did that kappa girl go?" he asked.

Miya huffed and ducked underwater, vanishing from sight. She stayed there for a moment, cooling her frustration, then her head emerged again. "I'm right here…" she mumbled.

Rikuo looked at her in surprise and smiled apologetically. She can't really get that mad, could she? he wondered. She was the one who hid herself. A call from behind caused him to turn around and the two girls to scowl. Karen ran towards them, kind of a ways away.

Miya stayed put in the water and lowered her head a bit more, though not completely submerging her head. Tsurara rolls her eyes and faces the other way, thinking to herself, Please trip, please trip, please trip, please trip. Maybe even fall into the river… That would be nice. She smiled when she heard the girl yell in surprise and grunt when she fell onto the ground. Not the river, but still nice.


	3. Big Freaking Mistake

**Yeah. New chapter. Been having migraines for the last week or so, including today. Bleh. They suck.**

* * *

"Miya, I didn't know you had feelings for Rikuo-kun, too," Karen said. "I thought it was only Tsura-"

Miya looked at Karen in surprise and slapped a hand over her mouth and stopped walking. When Tsurara and Rikuo were out of earshot Miya turned and said, "I do not have feelings for him! I merely make it a goal of mine to make sure that Rikuo-sama falls in love with Tsurara-chan!"

"So that's why you've been acting like this?" Karen asked, then shrugged her shoulders. "That's gonna happen even without your help."

"What's so wrong with helping out? And how do you know? I've encountered many girls who have tried to steal his heart, and I've taken out most of them before Tsurara-chan even noticed they existed." she grumbled crossing her arms. Karen reached over and patted Miya on the shoulder.

"Great job. You're still not needed though," she said bluntly.

Miya glared at her and stepped away from the patting. "I don't like you." she said even more bluntly then walked away to go join the other two.

"Ah, Mi-chan! Wait up!"

"Don't call me Mi-chan!" she said crossly and walked faster..

The two caught up with Tsurara and Rikuo, who were talking quietly between themselves. They stopped talking and turned around, Rikuo's eyes widening.

"Wait, why are you following me to school?" he asked.

"You dragged us along," Miya said looking at him. "We didn't really have a choice. Besides, I've never really been outside of the the main house before!"

"Eh? I did? You haven't?" Rikuo asked, then shook his head. He put his hands on the two girls and pushed them in the direction opposite the one they had been walking. "You can't follow me to school!"

"Waka! I won't be a disturbance I promise! I just want to see what's out here!" she repeated and escaped from the pushing hand and went to hide behind Tsurara. Karen wasn't so lucky and fell on her butt.

"Hey!" she said. Rikuo smiled apologetically and helped her up. A slight blush formed on her cheeks.  
Tsurara crossed her arms and glared at Karen. Miya stayed behind Tsurara, though she was also upset, though she didn't let it show as much because 'Karen's' words had kind of affected her, and she wasn't feeling very sure of herself at the moment.

A certain naturally curly haired boy chose this moment to show himself, along with Torii, Maki, Shima, and Kana. Before Miya could even disappear (though she didn't want to), they spotted Rikuo and Tsurara. As they neared, Karen noticed the strange look on Kana's face as she looked at the girls surrounding Rikuo. _Oh, of course she'd be jealous, _Karen thought and an evil smile formed on her lips.

Tsurara noticed the group that approached them, and she was still in her Yokai form, not her human form. She quickly switched places with Miya, hiding behind her now. Miya stood there awkwardly, she was also in her Yokai form because she had never thought she'd need to be in her human form. She stayed quiet and for once hoped she wasn't noticed.

Karen was different, however. She attached herself to Rikuo's arm and leaned in close to him. Rikuo's face turned red and he froze, unsure of what to do. Behind them Tsurara and Miya were becoming angry quickly, though they didn't want to be noticed since they weren't in human forms so they didn't do or say anything, although the atmosphere around them grew dark and scary.

Kana stood there and tried not to seem jealous, while Maki chatted with Torii and Shima a few steps behind Kiyotsugu. He looked stunned at the girl who he had never seen with Rikuo before. Maki and Torii stopped their conversation and started staring at the two as well. Kana bit her lip and turned to face the other way, pretending she didn't care.

"Hey Rikuo. Who is she?" Maki asked looking at them, hands on her hips and a curious expression on her face.

"I haven't seen her before," Torii said. "But you guys look pretty close."

Rikuo snapped out of his state of temporary paralysis and shook his head.

"My name's Karen," the girl said."This is the first time Rikuo-kun's met me."

Tsurara became too angry and she rushed to hide behind a tree where she turned into her human form. She then quickly rushed back to the group and threw herself between Karen and Rikuo; she refused to allow Rikuo-sama be touched by this girl. She then stood there with her arms crossed and staying between the two of them.

"Awww, Tsurara-chan. You ruined my fun," Karen complained. When she saw the murderous look the Yuki-Onna gave her, she decided it would be best if she just stayed silent for the rest of the time they were near each other.

Miya was the only one not in the group now and she hung back, she wasn't that inhuman looking in her Yokai form, though she was a kappa, so she definitely had features humans didn't.

"Well, the reason I called you all here is to share some exciting information… where's Yura?" Kiyotsugu asked. The group of people looked around curiously.

"I don't think she's been in Ukiyoe town since we went to Kyoto," Rikuo said.

Tsurara stayed quiet and stubbornly stayed where she was, though she noticed Miya hanging back awkwardly and tried to think of how to help her. Since she probably had never changed into a human form before she probably had no clue how.

Maki noticed Miya and raised a curious eyebrow. She poked Torii's shoulder to get her attention. "Hey, who's that?" she asked so only her friend could hear. Torii looked at the kappa in surprise.

"Hm? I don't know," she replied. "I havn't seen her before. She looks kinda wierd."

Miya then noticed that two of the girls were looking at her and she pulled the sleeves of her kimono down a bit to hide her hands. She bit her lip. She couldn't blow Rikuo-sama's cover by being recognized as a Yokai. Especially since she thought that this group was the one that Tsurara-chan spoke of that was always looking for Yokai.

Miya was surprised when Karen grabbed one of her arms and pulled her closer. "This here is Miya. Her parents are friends with mine and Rikuo's," she said and smiled. She was pretty good at cover stories, apparently.

Rikuo, panicking when he finally realized she was still in her yokai form, jumped in front of the two girls. He smiled and pulled Miya away from the group, running behind a tree.

"Why are you still in your yokai form?" Rikuo asked, releasing her wrist when he realized he was still holding it.

"I don't know how to change in into human form, I've never really been outside the main house so I've never needed to change before!" Miya explained. Rikuo looked at her in surprise. He had assumed she knew since she was a kappa like, well, Kappa.

"Sorry…" she said slightly embarrased that she didn't know how. He shook his head in response.

"I should be appologizing. I just assumed…" he said and laughed a little.

"It's okay Waka! Don't worry about it." she smiled a little and messed with the sleeves of her kimono.

"Please don't call me Waka," Rikuo said. "Tsurara calls me that all the time, too. You guys seem pretty close."

"Everyone calls you that, Rikuo-kun," Karen said. She had wandered from the group and left Tsurara with them.

Miya looked at 'Karen' and frowned, she didn't even have the chance to respond to Rikuo-sama before she intruded. Karen jumped on Rikuo and hugged him.

Miya clenched her fists tightly and glared at her.

"I'm not letting go this time, Mi-chan," Karen said and giggled. Rikuo's face was turning red.

"I thought I told you not to call me that." she grumbled and held in her growing anger. She was thankful that Tsurara-chan couldn't see 'Karen' right now or she'd be pissed beyong all ends. Karen smiled and stuck her tongue out at Miya. It seemed like she thought they were friends.

Miya ignored Karen and looked at Rikuo-sama. "So, Rikuo-sama," she paused for a moment, it felt weird calling him that to his face instead of calling him Waka, "Umm, so, I've already been introduced, thanks to her. What should I do?" she asked unsure. I'd be rude to leave after just being introduced, although she didn't know how to transform to her human form either.

"Well, you look mostly human. I don't think it should be too much troub-" Rikuo said before being interupted by Karen, who still wouldn't let go of him.

"I have some gloves you can use!" she exclaimed.

Miya was a bit startled by Karen, "I wasn't speaking to you…" she grumbled under her breath. Karen pouted and finally let go of Rikuo's arm.

Miya stayed quiet now, though was a bit surprised when one of the people from the group came and looked around the tree, it was Maki. "What are you guys doing? Kiyotsugu is getting bored and wants to tell us the 'important info'."

"Ah, ok. Um, lets go," Rikuo said and walked after Maki. Karen grabbed Miya's arm and dragged her to the group, who was now discussing where they should go. Apparently Kiyotsugu was being very picky about where to tell the Kiyo Cross Squad his "exciting" information.

Miya stumbled after, against her free will and once they reached the group she pulled from Karen's grasp. She moved to stand next to Tsurara and listened kind of curious. She kept her hands hidden in her kimono.

"Then it's decided! Let's head up to the roof of the school building!" Kiyotsugu said and started walking. Rikuo looked at Shima in surprise.

"Wait, what did we miss?" he asked him.

Shima looked at Rikou and said with an excited grin, "Kiyotsugu want to tell us the important information on the roof!"

"That's just like him," Karen said while shrugging her shoulders. Rikuo gave her a curious glance. _Why does she know so much?_ he thought.

Maki smiled and said, "Well come on guys! He'll get annoyed if we don't show up there soon!" Torii, who stopped next to her, nodded her head. Her cat-like eyes didn't seem to excited. Maki smiled and ushered her along towards the building, "Come on Torii."

"Right…" she said and followed Maki. Karen looked at Rikuo in confusion.

"What's with her?" she asked.

"She's had a couple bad experiences with yokai." he replied, surprised that this all-knowing girl didn't know this.

"So… did she already run into Kyosai...?" she mumbled, barely loud enough for Rikuo to hear. _Kyosai?_ he thought. _He's... part of the Hyakumonogatari Clan, isn't he?_

"Mi-chan! Wait up!" Karen yelled and chased after the kappa yokai, leaving Rikuo behind.

Miya glanced back then crossed her arms and kept walking with Tsurara-chan. "Don't call me that!" she said annoyed.

On the roof everyone was waiting for them, Kiyotsugo already starting to talk. He turned to the group that had just arrived and smiled widely.

"Haha, finally Nura-kun. And Tsurara, Miya, and Karen. You kept me waiting," Kiyotsugu said. "There is a new legend that has been posted on my website that I wanted to share with you." He pulled out his laptop from who-knows-where and showed the group the post. "Apparently there is a yokai around here that will appear if you sing a certain song and dance! Oh, and this one says that it kidnaps kids and teenagers."

"Huh? Which one is it?" Torii asked. Her expression changed into a more fearful one.

"Apparently the people who were taken and reported missing, seem to return a couple days after they vanish, though they seem to have lost all their memories. However, after mere minutes they vanish into smoke, as if they were never there in the first place." Kiyotsugu explained, reading the rest of the post. He smiled. "It's the perfect chance to meet the lord of darkness!"

Sweat formed on Rikuo's brow and he glanced at the two yokai who were with him. Tsurara was used to this, but Miya wasn't and he was curious to see how she would react.

Miya stood there with a very confused look on her face; she didn't quite understand what was being said. _They're purposly looking for Yokai? And Rikuo-sama in his night form? Nurarihyon? I don't understand..._

"Oh, you mean Nura?" Karen said, surprising the group.

Tsurara and Miya were surprised by the way she reffered to Nurarihyon and Tsurara moved slightly closer to Rikuo, determined to keep Karen away from him. They were also a bit nervous that they would mistake 'Nura' for Rikuo. The rest of the Kiyo Cross Squad was looking at Karen curiously.

"... Nura?" Kiyotsugu asked and then looked at Rikuo. He was sweating like crazy. Karen, realizing her mistake, stood up and grabbed the attention of the others.

"N-no, not Rikuo Nura. I mean Nurarihyon. I just sometimes call him Nura for short," Karen said, making up excuses. "What a coincidence, they have the same name… when I call him that… yeah." Karen wasn't sure if her cover-up had worked, having closed her eyes while cominig up with a reason. _Damn it! _she cursed. _I screwed things up, didn't I?_


	4. The Truth Kinda

**So finally an update on this story. WOW! Procrastination sucks. So Eevee-chan and I finally got to updating this... so yeah. School happened, homecoming happened, and I got a kinda-boyfriend out of all that. The quarter is almost over though (what the heck?). Now stop reading this boring update on a life you probably don't care about and go on to the story already!**

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Kiyotsugu laughed. "So, do you consider yourself familiar with yokai?" he asked Karen. She stopped cursing herself and looked at Kiyotsugu in surprise.

"Um… yes?" she responed. He seemed to have brushed her comment aside after she came up with that lame excuss. She turned to look at Miya and smiled. _Things are turning out to be okay_, she thought. _I didn't screw everything up!_

Miya rolled her eyes and looked at some pineapples instead which for some strange reason were sitting on the roof. Karen eyes went wide and she rushed over to them.

"... I guess she likes pineapples as well?" Torii asked Maki.

Maki shrugged, "Apparently, I don't even know where they came from."

Torii nodded. "They just appeared out of nowhere, didn't they?"

"It must have been a Yokai's doing!" Kiyotsugu exclaimed, surprising the two girls. They frowned at him.

"Not everything has to be the doing of Yokai, you know," Maki said while Torii shook her head. Kiyotsugu closed his laptop and pointed at their new companion who was holding one of the pineapples. Karen looked at him and quickly set the pineapple down, embarrassed.

"We must search for what did this!" he said and quickly got everyone into groups of two to start looking around. Surprisingly enough, Karen ended up with Rikuo. It was a good thing, too, because he had some questions to ask her.

Karen and Rikuo set off to look near the door. Near the begining of the search, Rikuo decided to ask her the one thing that had been burning in his mind.

"How exactly do you know so much about us?" he asked her. He had meant to ask her when she identified him, his grandfather, and Karasu Tengu earlier, but she had run off.

Karen stared off into the distance for a moment, thinking. _Should I… tell him the truth? I told Miya, so I should tell him, too. _Karen shook her head and turned to Rikuo, smiling.

"That requires a very, very long explination. It would be best if I told the whole Nura Gumi, wouldn't it?" she asked and giggled. "No, wait. It would be best if you explained it to them. I'll tell you then." Karen paused for dramatic effect, which was starting to annoy Rikuo. Couldn't she just get on with it?

"I'm not from here. Not this town, not this country, and not even this world… well, not exactly," she said. Rikuo looked at her in confusion.

"I'm not sure if I follow…" he said and Karen shrugged. She didn't expect him to. She didn't understand it herself.

"Basically I wished to come to this world. The world of Nurarihyon no Mago," she said and brought out a copy of the manga she had carried with her into this world. Rikuo looked at it in surprise. It looked to be a story of him and his companions. Karen handed him the book and he flipped through the pages, recognizing the events that happened within them.

Miya noticed Karen and Rikuo-sama and went over. She saw the book and said, "Hey, she showed me that earlier."

"Yeah, and you got all sad because you weren't in it, right?" Karen asked, knowing the answer. She ducked behind Rikuo when Miya glared at her.

"How…?" Rikuo asked in surprise. _What the hell was this thing?_ he thought. _How does this have the events of the past couple of months?_

Karen shook her head and put her hand in her pocket. She brought out something so small she nearly lost it. When Rikuo finally got a good look at it, he stared at it with confusion; she was holding a paper crane.

"I… guess I only have one, but this was the last crane I folded out of a thousand of them," she said. "THIS IS THE CAUSE!"

Tsurara goes over to the little group. "What's going on?" she asked and saw the book in Rikuo's hand. "Whats that Rikuo-sama?" she asked looking at it confused.

Rikuo closed the book and shook his head. "I'll… explain when we get back," he said when he noticed that Kiyotsugu-kun was on his way over.

"Nura-kun!" he shouted as he walked over. "You didn't find anything, did you?"

He was followed by some very annoyed people. Guessing on their expressions, they hadn't found anything.

Maki pulled Torii along and over to the cluster of people. "What's going on over here? Did you guys find something?" Rikuo shook his head and handed Karen's book back to her.

"We didn't either," Torii said. Karen nearly missed a sigh of relief escape her lips.

Shima came over, "You guys didn't find anything? Me neither." he hufffed and looked at all of them.

"I would have expected more of you," Kiyotsugu complained. "But I guess it can't be helped." He looked around and smiled. "Let's meet here tonight to look for that one Yokai I was telling you guys about. I'm sure you don't have anything planned?"

"Nope." Shima and Maki said, Maki shrugging and stood next to Torii. Torii sighed; sadly, she didn't have anything planned. _But maybe I'll run into that one Yokai who is always saving me, _she thought hopefully. _I still need to thank him._

"Rikuo-kun!" Karen said and jumped on said person. "You're going, right?" Her eyes widened as she tripped, her face was getting closer to his. _No no no! I am not going to have my first kiss here! Especially with him! It's just not supposed to happen!_

Miya frowned and when Karen started falling towards Rikuo-sama she nearly forgot she was in the presense of humans and almost used her water abilities to keep them apart. Instead she grabbed Karen's arm and pulled her towards herself to keep them apart. Once Karen was steadied she let go and glared at her intensly.

Karen was never more greatful for what Miya had done, until she saw that she was glaring at her. "Oops~" she said. She then looked at Rikuo whose face had turned beet red.

Tsurara stepped in between the two of them and smiled at Rikuo-sama. Her back turned to Karen. "Rikuo-sama, you don't have to go, besides I'm pretty sure you have stuff to do tonight right?" she said stiffly.

"Uh, right..." Rikuo said and then leaned in closer to Tsurara. "I'm sure the meeting can be pushed until tomorrow. Plus Yura isn't here to protect them if they do run into that Yokai."

Tsurara moved away a little when he got closer, a pale blush crossing her face. "Umm yeah I think it can be pushed back a bit..."

"Good," he said with a smile. He turned to the rest of the Kiyo Cross Squad. "Yeah, I'll be there."

Tsurara took a step back away from Rikuo. She glanced over at Kana, who had been staying quiet for a while now, then back at Rikuo-sama.

Kana then decided to speak up, "I'll go too!" she smiled. Karen looked at her with a glare then started fliping through her book. "I thought you didn't like Yokai?"

"Eh? I don't really, but if everyone else is going…" she trailed off and glanced at Rikuo. Karen smiled. _No, it's totally because of Rikuo-kun… um, both forms… yeah, _she thought.

"Alright, that's everyone, right?" Kiyotsugu said and then looked at Shima, who was looking at Tsurara. "I know Shima is already going, although you leave in a couple days, right?"

"Uhh? Oh yeah thats right!" he said.

"Tonight then!" Kiyotsugu declared, ending the meeting. Rikuo, Tsurara, and Miya started heading down the stairs of the building when Karen ran down to stop them from leaving her.

"Please, can I stay with you?" her question was mainly directed at Rikuo, but he didn't have time to answer before Tsurara objected.

"A human shouldn't stay in a house of Yokai." she said simply, trying to give Rikuo a good reason not to let Karen stay. Karen glared at her and puffed up her cheeks.

"He's technically a human right now," she argued. "And his mother's human. And he lets his human friends come over once they know that he's a…" she trailed of and quickly closed her mouth. Rikuo stared at her curiously. "That… he's a... Yokai…" she finished. _Ah! Spoilers! Why, Karen, why?_

"They… they find out about me?" he asked in surprise. Karen cursed herself and quickly turned to him.

"You really weren't supposed to find that out, Rikuo-kun," she said and shook her head quickly. She looked to the two Yokai. "Do any of you have some of that super strong Yokai sake or whatever it was called?"

"Umm, no. Why?" Tsurara asked confused.

"If he gets drunk off of it he won't remember what I just said," she pouted and turned back to Rikuo. "I made a huge mistake in telling you that."

"We'll remember though." Miya stated looking at Karen.

"I would have trusted you two not to say anything," she said and then shrugged. "Let's just go."

"But we'll still remember." Tsurara said as they all started walking again. Karen shook her head.

"Just forget about it!"

Tsurara sighed as they walked up to the main house. "So Rikuo's friends find out we're Yokai?" she asked again and looked at Karen, she couldn't forget about something like that, she didn't want Kana finding out Rikuo-sama was actually the grandson of Nurarihyon. Karen nodded her head; she was still mad at herself.

Luckily she had an idea…

"Ah, you're home, Rikuo. And you brought the human girl with you," Nurarihyon said, greeting the group. Karen nodded and started walking past him.

Zen was walking out to greet Rikuo, Tsurara, and Nurarihyon, when he bumped into Karen. "Hey it's you!" He exclaimed and glared at her. Karen looked up in surprise, making a sound like a mouse, and hid behind Rikuo.

"What are you doing here?" he asked angrily. Rikuo pushed Karen a little furhter behind him.

"You know her, Zen?" Rikuo asked.

"Yeah she ran into me this morning, too!"

Rikuo stared at Zen. "That's not really 'knowing' her…"

"It's close enough!" he said grumpily and crossed his arms then starts to cough up blood. Rikuo ran over and kneeled next to him. "Zen, you can't go overexerting yourself like that!" he exclaimed.

"Stupid Rikuo, you can't tell me what to do!" Zen said through his hands. Karen started panicking and rushed over to Zen's side as Rikuo tried to help him up.

"Ah! Do you need help?" she asked. Zen glared at her.

"No! I can manage!" he said through more coughs. Karen ignored him and helped Rikuo help him up. She turned to him and smiled.

"I can bring him to his room," she said. Rikuo looked at her in surprise. _She knows where that is, too? _he thought, but he nodded and let her take him in the direciton of the Main House. Zen protested her help whole-heartedly but didn't move away.

Rikuo turned to look back at the others and noticed that his grandfather had dissappeard. Of course he had. He was Nurarihyon.

"So, your weird Yokai obsessed friends find out we're Yokai?" Tsurara asked Rikuo-sama.

"I… I guess they do," he said and shook his head in disbelief.

"I wonder how…?" she asked curiously, wanting to know if there was a way to prevent it. _I have to protect him, after all, _she thought. _Who knows what those humans would do if they found out Rikuo-sama was a Yokai?_

Zen kept walking with Karen and looked at her as his coughing calmed down, though he was clearly still coughing. "How do you know where my room is?"

"I don't," she replied and smiled at him. "I just need your help with something."

"What?" he asked grumpily. They stopped walking near the front of the kitchen so she could tell him. She looked around for a bit to see if anyone was near.

"I need to know where that one special sake stuff for Yokai is," she replied.

"Umm, why?" he looked at her confused.

"If I give him sake he'll forget what I told him which I really shouldn't have!" she explained. "Spoilers, you know?"

"Umm, no I don't know. Why should I give you that sake? Because I'm not planning on it." Karen glared at Zen and flung her arms into the air.

"Fine, I'll find it myself!" she said and started walking away.

"Fine, good luck," he glared back and walked the other way, to his room.

Rikuo walked down the halls of his house, searching for his grandfather. He had to tell him that Karen was going to be staying with them for the moment. Behind him were Tsurara and Miya, who for now had replaced Aotabo for an escort. Apparently he was too busy with his biker gang.

"Have you seen the Supreme Commander?" They asked some of the Yokai that they passed. The Yokai shook their heads and started crawling/walking away. Rikuo sighed heavily and turned a corner.

"Oh!" a girl said as she bumped into him. Karen looked at him in surprise with a bottle of sake in her hands. She looked down at the bottle when they started staring at it and gave a nervous smile.

"What are you doing with that?" Rikuo asked her. _She looks rather suspicious, _he thought.

"I wanted to thank you for letting me stay here," she explained as a bead of sweat rolled down the right side of her face. _If I could fool the Kiyo Cross Squad with a phony story, maybe I could with them, too! _she thought. _They can't find out my true intentions._

"Uh, it's no problem," RIkuo said. _There definitely had to be something up with that botte of sake_, he thought.

Tsurara raised an eyebrow, "Though, why are you thanking with sake?" she asked suspiciously.

Miya looked at the sake then at Karen. "Why do you need sake to thank us?"

"B-because I have nothing else to thank you with!" Karen said quickly and gave Rikuo the bottle.

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**Thank you Guest person, whoever you may be, for those reviews. They make us think!**

**Now to all the other readers, constructive criticism is always appreciated and we want to hear from you guys! So review, favorite, yada yada yada yada. See you next time!**


	5. Sake Party

**Woot. Another chapter!**

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"Rikuo-sama~! Rikuo…sama~!" Tsurara sang smiling and went up to him. Rikuo looked up from his sake cup and smiled when he saw the drunken Yuki-Onna walking towards him. He moved to the side as she sat down.

Karen watched them and smiled. _They… are… so … cute together!_ she

A drunk Miya came up to Karen and looked at her, "You know, I don like you vury much." she said as she say down in front of her, swaying a little. Karen couldn't help but giggle behind her hand.

"Whatsso funny?" she asked and glared at her but couldn't help the small smile that crossed her face.

"You guys are really fun when you're drunk," Karen said and started watching her favorite couple in the Nurarihyon no Mago series. To her surprise the human Rikuo was acting a lot like the Yokai Rikuo.

Miya looked at what Karen was looking at and a bright smile crossed her face, "Awwww! They're so cute!" she said happily. Without thinking she called over to them, "Kiss!"

Rikuo looked over at Miya and grinned. Tsurara looked over at Miya as well and blushed a bit at the comment. "Oi, Tsurara. Look at me," Rikuo said. "I want to see your pretty face."

"Eh?" she looked at him with a smile. He took her by surprise when he put his hand on her face and leaned in to kiss her on the lips.

She was completely surprised and, even though she was drunk, you could see her blushing brightly. She didn't know how to react. Rikuo pulled back, his hand still on her cheek. He stroked it and finally pulled it back when she kinda-sorta spoke.

"E-eh…Rikuo-sama," she smiled and the blush stayed on her face. Karen just stared at the pair in shock.

"I… honestly never thought he would do that," she said out loud. Rikuo looked at her when he heard the comment and smiled. Karen shyly smiled back.

Miya grinned and clapped, "Yay! Good job Waka!" she cheered happily. Rikuo's smile grew into a smirk and he slung his arm around Tsurara's shoulder.

Tsurara blushed but smiled happily and leaned into him.

Wakana then walked in smiling, "Hello there!" she then saw the sake and drunk Yokai and raised an eyebrow curiously, "What are you kids doing?"

Rikuo turned to his mother and grinned, pulling Tsurara closer to him. "I've decided I'm going to marry Yuki-Onna, mom."

Wakana smiled brightly. "Oh really?! Good for you! Want me to go tell your grandfather? Or do you want to tell him?" Rikuo smiled.

"I'll tell 'im," he said as he slurred his words.

"Alright!" she was to oblivious to notice his slurred speech and started to leave the room.. Tsurara blushed during the conversation, surprised at Rikuo's statement about marrying her.

"Eh? But Wakana-sama!" Karen said, surprising the woman. "That's not supposed to happen yet!"

"Hmm? What do you mean by that? Rikuo wants to marry Tsurara, what's wrong with that?" she asked confused.

"I'm not even sure it does happen! The book doesn't disclose that information…" she exclaimed, mumbling the last part.

"I don't know what you are talking about but if my son want's to marry Yuki-Onna, he can," Wakana said, smiling as usual. Karen sighed. _Wakana-sama, you're always so happy all the time… _she thought. _I want to be more like you someday. _She bowed to Wakana, surprising her again.

"I'm sorry for getting your son drunk!"

"Eh?! What do you mean?" Wakana looked over at Rikuo, Tsurara, and Miya and finally noticed they were all drunk. Tsurara was clinging to Rikuo, Rikuo was grinning like crazy, and Miya was laughing and fawning over how cute they were and going on about a wedding between them.

"I needed them to forget some really important things that are total spoilers for their lives because I'm not from here and I brought something with me that has a lot of information about the future and just to let you know I am not a Yokai and I don't belong here and you don't even know me. I'm a total stranger and I'm intruding on your lives and-" Karen had to stop to gasp for breath.

Wakana listened to her confused. "Okay…?"

Karen lifted her head, her eyes filled with tears. "I'm completely ruining everything

Wakana smiled, "I don't think that's quite true. Look at them. They may be drunk, but still, I've rarely seen anyone talk to that girl," she gestured to Miya, "Although now she's getting along pretty well with Tsurara and RIkuo. Those two have finally reailized their feelings, I think." she added looking at them then turned back to Karen, "I'd say you made their lives a little bit better, in my opinion at least, but then again, what do I know?" she laughed a bit.

Karen smiled and wiped away her tears. "Wakana-sama, you know a lot," she said. "But I gave them the really strong Yokai sake… they won't remember this."

"If that's true, then you can either tell them or leave it a secret. Either way the results will probably end up being the same." she said then headed towards the door, "I have to go do some chores, watch them okay?" she smiled and left.

Karen returned the smile and watched as she walked out of the room. She sighed and looked back at the three Yokai she had gotten drunk. They looked like they reallly were having fun.

Rikuo looked at the girl who had been talking with his mother and he smiled. "Karen, come 'ere," he said and waved her over. She complied and sat near the group, her smile growing bigger.

Miya crossed her arms then with a huff she grabbed Karen's arm and pulled her closer to the group, smiling a bit. Karen was surprised at her action but laughed.

Tsurara frowned a little at Karen, but then shrugged it off and smiled happily, holding onto Rikuo's arm protectively. Using his other arm he handed her a cup of sake and she accepted it. However, she did not take a drink.

Tsurara raised an eyebrow at her. "Karen, you should drink what Rikuo-sama gave you." she scolded, "It's rude not to."

"Exchange sakazuki with me," Rikuo said. Karen scooted back and stared at him.

"I'm not a Yokai," she said. "There's no way I could be a part of your Hyakki Yakou... though I've always wanted to."

Miya frowned and crossed her arms, tears quickly filling her eyes. She wanted to be part of his Hyakki Yakou, but she wouldn't ask him for that. Her already red cheeks from drinking turned more red due to her being so upset.

"Eh, Miya's upset?" he asked her.

Miya didn't respond and she looked away to hide her tears and she sniffled a bit. "I'm fine." she pouted. Rikuo took her hand and brought her closer.

"Exchange sakazuki with me," he said.

Miya was surprised and looked at him. "R-really?!" she asked, not having been expecting that. He nodded, his glasses sliding off of his smiled a bit and wiped away her tears, "O-okay!"

Twas a delicate procedure, apparently. Rikuo and Miya sat facing each other, RIkuo holding a cup full of sake. Before taking a drink, Miya bowed her head to him in respect. He took a drink and set his cup down. Miya took the cup from where he had set it and drank the sake.

Tsurara smiled when the exchange was complete and scooted closer to Rikuo. She leaned against him and yawned, "I'm tired…" she mumbled and fell asleep with her head on his shoulder. Rikuo gave her a sleepy smile and he, too, yawned.

Miya stretched and went to sit next to Karen and leaned on her. She was tired as well. Karen quickly moved away from Miya, but she did help her lay down on the ground so she didn't fall and hurt herself. Miya pouted a bit but quickly passed out.

Rikuo, still awake, smiled at Karen and Miya. The girl who was still awake noticed and smiled back.

"Why don' you two come o'er here?" Rikuo said and waved them over. Karen looked down at the sleeping Yokai next to her and then back at Rikuo, frowning.

"I don't want to wake her up," she said. "And I'm not going to drag her over."

Rikuo scooted over, holding Tsurara and somehow not waking her up. He pulled Karen over so she was also leaning against him. Karen blushed furousiously. Rikuo smiled and closed his eyes, his head leaning on top of Tsurara's.

Karen smiled and her lids grew heavy. This had more of a day than she had expected. _But, I think… _her thoughts trailed off as she feel asleep.

Karen woke up and watched as, not too long afterwards, Rikuo, Tsurara, and Miya all woke up with awful headaches. Tsurara found herself half laying on Rikuo and blushed, quickly moving off of him and a few feet away, which caused her headache to get worse and she groaned a bit.

Miya looked around sleeping and put a hand on her head, "Why does my head hurt so much?" she grumbled and moved away from the group a little. Rikuo woke up and realized that Tsurara was lying on him, causing him to blush about as much as Tsurara was.

"T-Tsurara?" he asked her in surprise and embarrasment.

"S-sorry Waka! I-I don't know why I was…" she trailed off and blushed a bit more and looked away.

"What time is it!" he said. He ran outside, where it was already starting to grow dark.

Miya, Tsurara, and Karen followed him, the two Yokai holding their throbbing heads, "I don't know.." Miya said looking around, slightly happy it wasn't bright out because she had a feeling it would make their headaches worse. She noticed that Karen was the only one not with a headache. "Did you do something to us?" she asked Karen a bit suspiciously.

The girl smiled guiltily at the two Yokai and started running after Rikuo who had started running towards the gate. "Rikuo-sama!" Karen yelled with a slight hint of fear in her voice. "Wait for me, please!"

Tsurara and Miya ran after them as well, worried about him, "Rikuo-sama! Where are you going?" Tsurara called after him as they ran. She had forgotten about hte Yokai search with the Kiyo Cross Club.

"We need to hurry or we'll be the last ones there!" Karen yelled back.

"Go where?" she asked and her and Miya caught up. Karen turned but kept on running backwards.

"The meeting with Kiyotsugu's club," she said. "We said we'd be there."

"Eh? Oh yeah that's right! Hey Tsurara, could you help me figure out how to change to my human form?" Miya asked with a hand on her head as they ran. Tsurara nodded, "Yeah if my head feels a bit better I can try." she replied.

"Eh, my fault again," Karen mumbled.

Miya looked at her, "What did you do to us?" she asked crossly. Karen smirked and didn't answer her.

Miya frowned and kept running after Rikuo-sama with Tsurara. They were almost to school where they were told to meet before going into the forest. Tsurara stopped for a moment and quickly managed to teach Miya how to turn into a human form, they both turned into humans and went over. They reached the school and looked around; Kiyotsugu, Shima, and Kana were already there waiting.

"Nura-kun!" Kiyotsugu yelled and waved the new arrivals over. "You're late." Kana looked at them and raised a curious eyebrow, "Why'd you all come together?"

"I met them on the way here," Rikuo said. He started holding his head when he finally noticed it was throbing. _Why do I have a headache? _He thought. _Come to think of it… what were we doing the last couple hours?_

Tsurara looked at him, holding her own head and a slightly worried look crossed her face. Rikuo tried covering up the action and made it seem like he had just been scratching his head. Somehow he fooled them… or at least, most of them. He looked at Tsurara and gave a small smile to try and alieviate the worried look on her face.

She let the worried look dissapear as (someone) came up and greeted them cheerfully. She let her hands fall to her sides and ignored the headache.

"Hey, Mi-chan," Karen whispered to the kappa. "Your human form is kinda attracting attention."

Miya looked at her, "Eh? Wait, don't call me that!" she said with a hand on her head but was also confused at what she meant and looked around. Torii and Maki were staring at her hands curiously.

Miya looked at her hands becoming even more confused. She saw that her webbing was gone and looked at Torii and Maki. _Why are they so confused? Don't humans not have webbing between their fingers? _she thought to herself but put her hands behind her back feeling awkward.

Torii leaned over to Maki. "Wasn't… there something in between her fingers before?" she asked.

Maki shrugged. "I thought so, but it doesn't look like it."

"Well then," Kiyotsugu said and everyone's attention turned to him. He was grinning like a mad man as he punched his fist into the air. "It's time, everyone!"

* * *

**We love hearing from you guys! And guest, whoever you are, you are awesome! Thanks for asking those questions about our fanfic! **


	6. Distract the Kiyo Cross Squad!

**PINEAPPLES! **

**Hey, new chapter and such. The world is getting colder... kinda makes me sad...**

* * *

The Kiyo Cross Squad walked for a very long time through the forest. Maki and Torii were complaining as usual, and so was the new girl, Karen.

Miya sighed as she walked. she didn't understand this group of people; why would they come if they were just going to complain the entire time? She looked down at herself, she didn't look super different in her human form, and since she didn't go to school like the others instead of a uniform she was wearing a long faded purple sweater, that covered her hands, and a black skirt. She was unused to the modern clothes.

"Mi-chan~!" Karen said in a whiny voice. "Why, Mi-chan, why?"

"Eh?" she looked down at Karen confused, "Wha~? Don't call me Mi-chan!" she said angrily and frowned at her. Karen smirked and stuck her tongue out at the kappa.

Miya crossed her arms and tried to ignore her, frustrated more now. Her attention was still on Karen and she tripped backwards, falling onto her butt. Rikuo, the good person that he is, walked over to her side and helped her up. Karen and Tsurara went to his side and also tried to help Miya up from the ground (however she refused to accept Karen's help) She was blushing a bit from embarresment and let Tsurara and Rikuo help her up, still ignoring Karen.

"Awww, that's not very nice, Mi-chan," she said and puffed out her cheeks. Rikuo started laughing, though he tried his very best not to. Karen frowned and furrowed her eyebrows.

"What's so funny?" she asked crossly. Tsurara, Kana, Torii, Maki, and Shima all started to laugh a bit as well, though Miya frowned and rolled her eyes. "Don't call me Mi-chan." she grumbled.

"Hey!" Karen said, her face becoming red in embarrassment as the others started laughing, but then she cracked a smile and started gigling.

"What's everyone laughing about?" Kiyotsugu said as he wandered over to the group. He had gone off a little ways, absorbed in the idea of finding Yokai, that he hadn't realize that the rest had stopped.

Miya looked at him and smiled a little at his obliviousness, "Nothing, just Karen being weird." she said and started walking the direction they had been headed.

"Maybe it's because of that Yokai I was telling you about! The one that shows up when you do a dance and…" Kiyotsugu trailed of when everyone was looking at him strangly. He crossed his arms. "N-nevermind that. We have a Yokai to find!"

The group started walking again. Miya, Tsurara, and Karen were sticking close to Rikuo as they went deeper into the forest. Kana noticed that he was having a conversation with Tsurara.

Kana raised a curious eyebrow and thought to herself, _I wonder why they're all so clingy... a-and how did the amount of girls duplicate? First there was just Tsurara-chan, now there are 2 others. How do they know Rikuo-kun?_

"So you… feel it too?" Rikuo asked Tsurara, leaning in closer to her.

She nodded. "Yeah I do." Rikuo started looking around. "So, a Yokai _is _here, and not one from our clan," he nodded again. "Yeah, it doesn't seem familiar. What should we do about your friends? If they saw Master transform..."

Rikuo sighed. "Yeah, I know."

Miya could feel the presense of a Yokai as well, though she wasn't part of the conversation between Tsurara-chan and Rikuo-sama, so she kept to herself and looked around.

Karen, not really paying attention to them, was staring off into a shadowed place in the forest. To her, it looked like something was standing there, watching her. She pushed back her hair and started walking towards the figure.

Tsurara noticed and raised an eyebrow and followed. "Hey, Karen?" she said softly and went over, she looked at what Karen was looking at and was surprised at the sight. Standing before them was a very tall, skinny figure who seemed to be cloaked in fear. It swirled around him like smoke. He was signaling for Karen to come closer, and, as she was a human, she was drawn towards the man.

Tsurara grabbed Karen's arm and glanced back, managing to get Rikuo's attention without the others noticing. Rikuo's eyes widened when he saw the man and turned to Miya.

"I need you to keep an eye on them," he told her, pointing to his friends just ahead of them. "Make sure they don't follow me."

Miya was confused but then she noticed the man. She nodded. "Okay, I can do that," she said and went to catch up with his friends. Rikuo smiled and started running after Tsurara and Karen. Currently Karen was trying to fight against Tsurara to get closer to the man. Rikuo scowled. _He must be the Yokai Kiyotsugu-kun was talking about,_ he thought as he pulled out his sword.

Miya followed Rikuo's friends, watching their surroundings carefully, glancing back to make sure they were a safe distance away from Rikuo and the man. Maki looked around, noticing the absence of three of the club's members.

Miya noticed Maki looking around and tried to think up some sort of distraction when Shima interrupted her thoughts.

"Hey where's Tsurara-chan?" he asked looking around, noticing she wasn't with them.

"Nura-kun and that girl Karen aren't here either," Torii noticed.

Kiyotsugu's eyes lit up and he turned to the group. "Maybe they got caught by that Yokai!" he exclaimed. "We must find them!"

Miya freaked out a bit and tried to come up with something to say, "N-no I thinks they're fine! Karen probably fell into some bushes and they just have to catch back up. Let's keep going." she said and tried to get them to walk again.

"Shouldn't we help them?" Torii asked nervously. She was honestly afraid that Kiyotsugu was right. Kiyotsugu took a step in the opposite direction they had been heading.

"Of course we should. If we run into any Yokai, I have this!" he said and struggled to get something out of his backpack.

"Th-they're probably fine!" Miya insisted and tried to turn Kiyotsugu around, an idea poped into her head and she pointed past him, in the direction away from Rikuo-sama and the others, "Did you see that?" she asked pretending something had appeared. As expected, he quicklly turned around in excitement.

"Let us carry on!" he said and started walking on their previous course deeper into the woods. The others sighed and trailed behind him. Miya sighed in relief and followed.

Tsurara noticed Rikuo-sama show up as she was trying to keep Karen away from the Yokai. "Waka! Why are you over here? Where are your friends? And Miya-chan?" "

Miya-chan is making sure they don't get harmed," he said as he ran over, holding his sword tightly in his arms. At this time the Yokai was reaching for Karen's outstretched hand, his fear curling itself around her hand. He could feel his blood start to boil at the sight.

Tsurara struggled and tried to pull Karen away, "Come on Karen-chan! Get away from him!" she said. Karen turned to face her, her eyes kind of foggy. Tsurara was a bit surpried by the appearance and held onto her arm, trying to get her back from the Yokai.

Karen smiled, but she seemed to be looking past Tsurara. "I've been waiting to meet you like this, young Nurarihyon," she said faintly and fell into Tsurara's arms.

Tsurara stumbled back a bit as Karen fell, she struggled under the sudden weight. The tendrils of fear receeded from Karen's body and returned to the Yokai.  
Tsurara watched the fear slip away and she nearly fell backwards, as she regained her balance and hung onto Karen. She felt an arm touch her shoulder and she looked up to see Rikuo in his night form glaring at the Yokai.

"Who are you?" he asked. The Yokai reached out again and successfuly grabbed hold of Karen once again. Her eyes snapped open, and, with her voice, he talked through her.

"There is no need for you to know my name," she/he said. "Your life, as well as your friends, will be no longer once I-" He/she was cut off when Rikuo swung his sword and cut his fear and hold on Karen.

"You will not hurt my friends," he said, glaring at the Yokai. Tsurara managed to move Karen over to a nearby tree and set her down, then turned to her Yokai form and went over and stood by Rikuo-sama, ready to protect him.

The Kiyo Cross Squad walked farther into the woods, but their spirits had dwindled and their pace had grown slower, but of course, Kiyotsugu was still pumped. Maki and Torii had ceased their complaining a couple steps back, due to the fact that Kiyotsugu had promised them a trip to the beach, this time to one they could actually swim in.

Miya walked at the back of the group, paying attention to both their surroundings and Rikuo's friends. She had promised him she'd watch them, so that's just what she was doing.

"Nura and Karen arn't back yet," Torii said to Maki.

"They probably got distracted by something, or Karen tripped again, or something." Miya said smiling a bit and keeping them walking. Kana, who had stopped with them, was being stubborn and wouldn't move, looking back in the direction they had come from.

Miya put her hands near her shoulders, "Come on Kana, we should see if we can find anything up ahead, I think I see a clearing." she said trying to be convincing.

Kana shook her head, "No, I think we should go back and find them first." she said crossing her arms.

"B-but Kana, Kiyotsugu's super curious about whats up ahead now, right?" Miya asked looking at Kiyotsugu hoping her assumption was correct. Sadly, it wasn't. He was starting to get worried for Rikuo as well.

Miya bit her lip, she knew she needed to give Rikuo-sama and Tsurara-chan enough time to take care of the Yokai and make sure Karen was okay, but she was not good at stalling people, especially humans.

Shima spoke up, "Hey I think we should go find Tsu-... them. I'm worried, its been a while since they vanished." Maki nodded in agreement. "Yeah I agree with Shima here. It has been quite a while since we left them behind."

"Alright, it's decided!" Kiyotsugu jumped in. "It's time to find the others!"

The group started walking in the direction they had come, much to Miya's dissapointment and protests. Miya followed them, trying to come up with a way to get them to stop at the very least, though she was ignored.

"H-hey guys! I bet Rikuo-sama's just fine! He's super smart and stuff!I-I should know! I live with him!" Miya realized what she said to late and stammered, "W-well I'm living with him for now, c-cause I'm his cousin!" she managed to get out as she stood in front of them. They stared at her in shock, bewilderment, and total confusement.

_O-oops! I shouldn't have said something like that! Stupid head!_ Miya mentally scolded herself and looked at them. Kiyotsugu was the first one to move.

"So that's why you seem so close to him!" he exclaimed and put his hand on her shoulder. "Still, if he's dealing with a Yokai, he'll need me to help save him, since, of course, we don't have our omnyiouji to help us."

Miya took a step back to move away from the hand on her shoulder and try to convince him not to go back, although she didn't have the chance because she tripped on a rock and fell backwards, she squeaked in surprise and tried to grab something close to her to not fall. The closest thing happened to be Kiyotsugu and, managing to grab his hand, she caught him by surprise and he went tumbling down with her.

"GAH!" Kiyotsugu exclaimed when he landed on top of her. He stared at her for a moment, a slight blush coming to his cheeks, and he quickly got off of her.

"Sorry for the fall," he said, laughing strangely and trying to make this situation less awkward than it already was. He offered her his hand to the blushing Yokai. Miya looked at him, her face bright red and she hesitantly took his hand after he was off of her. "I-it's fine, m-my fault." she stammered, extremely embarrassed and stood up.

Maki was watching from the side, a devious smirk on her face, "Ooo this is getting interesting." she whispered to Torii. She was smiling as well, though not so deviously as Maki was.

"They make a pretty cute couple," Torii whispered back as the two teens in front of them were staring at each other, both with a bright blush on their cheeks. "I don't think I've ever seen Kiyotsugu act like this."

Maki nodded in agreement, "Yeah they do, and I've never seen him act anything but Yokai obsessed." she whispered, her devilish smile firm on her face. Torii giggled.

"Yeah, he always drags us into it, too," she said and then sighed. Maki nodded, "Yeah he does."

"U-um, we… we need to, um…" Kiyotsugu said, trying to remember what he was doing before his little trip with Miya. "We… we need to save Nura-kun!"

He insisted that they head back and that the Yokai could wait as his friends were more important. The group of teens walked on, leaving Miya only a little bit behind.

Miya was to shaken up and flustered from the fall that she didn't get the chance to protest. _Sorry Waka! Your friends are persistent! I'm trying to stall them, hurry! _she thought, getting the feeling she was going to be exhausted after this night was over.


	7. Shadows of the Forest

**It's been a looong, time.**

**How have you been?**

**I've been really good being dead...**

* * *

The tendrils of fear recoiled from the blade's touch as Rikuo sliced through it. Alas, it was not the spirit sword Nenekirimaru, as it was in the care of Akifusa for the time being, but it still worked well against the strange nameless Yokai. The Yokai glared at the Third Heir of the Nura clan with his glowing yellow eyes, but still, in spite of this, a smile danced on his lips. It was such an action that made Rikuo and Tsurara suspicious of the Yokai, if they hadn't been already.

Rikuo looked down at his aid who looked ready to take on the world if something happened to her master. In this serious of a situation, he didn't understand why his face was starting to go red. Was he… blushing? He shook his head slightly and looked back at the Yokai. Why would I be blushing? he thought as he put his sword on his shoulder, trying to act cool, of course.

Tsurara didn't notice his blush, her attention focused on the Yokai, and she awaited Rikuo-sama's next move. She also waited for what the Yokai would do, the smile concering her. It was a smile that did not do well in hiding his dark intentions, though both Rikuo and Tsurara were unsure what they were.

The previously unconsious Karen opened her eyes and peered at the three forms standing a little way's off from where she was. She wondered briefly what had happened, but then decided not to think when her head started throbbing. This is probably what it felt like after I got the others drunk, she thought and smirked. Wow, total karma.

Tsurara and Rikuo were unaware Karen had woken back up and they stayed facing the Yokai. The Yokai stayed in the shadows, it almost looked like he was using the same fear as Rikuo, he appeared to be a gaseous form that couldn't be attacked, though in some places he seemed solid. His smile was bright against all that darkness; he had a definite fear-inducing appearance, but they still didn't know the extent of his fear.

"Tsurara, we need to make sure he doesn't get to Karen again," Rikuo said to his attendant.

Tsurara nodded, "Yes, but how?"

"I can trust you to watch over her, can't I?" he asked her smiling.

She nodded and smiled back a bit, "Of course you can!"

Rikuo turned his attention back to the Yokai, who still hadn't moved one bit from his spot. Rikuo pointed his sword at him, the sword glinting in the moonlight. "No matter what, I will protect my friends. I promise you that if you try to do anything that will harm them, I will kill you right now," he threatened.

"Tsurara…?" Karen asked the Yuki-Onna. "What's going on?" From what she could see, nothing was happening. Why aren't you beating his ass into the ground, Rikuo? she thought.

Tsurara turned away from the Yokai and looked at Karen, "You're awake!" she went over to follow Night Rikuo's instructions. "Are you okay? And we're trying to figure out what his fear is; we don't know what type of threat he is."

Karen rubbed the back of her neck. "I wouldn't know either," she said. "I don't remember this part being in the story."

Tsurara frowned, "I don't think everything is in your weird book." Karen didn't answer her and stared at the two forms in the shadows. Both Rikuo and the Yokai looked menacing, even from that distance. Tsurara looked over at Rikuo and the Yokai. "Let's get you away from here quickly, so I can come back and protect Waka."

Karen shook her head. "He's strong, Tsurara," she said and smiled. "Really strong, and protective, and really admirable."

"I know that." she huffed a bit and helped Karen stand up. Karen blushed slightly and pushed Tsurara's hand away. She had just been gushing about her favorite person in front of the girl who totally likes him! Likes him, likes him! How embarrassing, she thought.

"Come on Karen. Let's get you away from this Yokai. He was speaking through you, and I can't imagine it was very pleasant."

Karen shook her head in agreement. "Yeah, that was terrible, but..." then she looked at Tsurara with a look of determination in her eyes. "But I won't leave."

Tsurara frowned then stood up, "Fine, but be careful." she said then went back over to Rikuo, keeping an eye on Karen though. She looked at Tsurara in surprise, letting her off that easily, but she didn't argue. This is a once in a lifetime oppurtunity, Karen thought.

Rikuo looked at Tsurara as she walked back over to him and then over at Karen. He looked at the Yuki-onna in confusion. "Is she alright?" he asked.

"Yeah I think so, but she's refusing to leave." Tsurara said looking at him. Rikuo smirked and looked at the Yokai in front of them, who for some reason was staying patient and letting these events unfold. "She's pretty stubborn, isn't she," he said.

"Yeah she is." she said with a little huff, she found Karen's stubborness a bit annoying. She then looked over at the Yokai, wondering what he was doing. He just stood there, watching. What the hell does this guy want? Rikuo thought.

Tsurara wasn't sure if they should wait for the Yokai to make the first move, or if they should, so she waited to see what Rikuo would do. He moved slightly in front of her, drawing his sword closer to the Yokai's shadowy face. The Yokai didn't even flinch and still stood there unmoving. Rikuo was getting frustrated. If he's not going to make a move soon, I'm going to have to do it, he thought. I'm growing impatient.

She was a tad bit surprised when Rikuo moved in front of her, even though it was just a little. Though she could sense his impatience and half hoped the Yokai would make the first, cause that would give them something to go off of.

The Yokai, seemingly tired of standing still, took a step forward, Rikuo's sword piercing the skin on his neck. Instead of blood, black smoke seeped from the wound. Rikuo glared at the Yokai and pushed it harder against his flesh, halting the Yokai's movement.

"Don't step any closer," Rikuo said, moving ever so slightly in front of Tsurara so the Yokai couldn't see her anymore.

Tsurara was yet again surprised by Rikuo's actions, when he stepped in front of her she could no longer see the Yokai's face anymore, though she could tell that he was still there. "Waka?" she asked quietly, not quite understanding why he was guarding her so much, wasn't that her job? To guard him? Rikuo looked back at her and smiled. It was a genuine smile too, not his usual smirk.

"Stay behind me for a little bit, okay?" he asked. Not waiting for an answer, he turned back and faced the Yokai, glaring. "O-okay." she blushed a bit when he smiled, and stayed behind him.

While his back was turned, Rikuo didn't notice that the Yokai had slipped behind the tree Karen was sitting near. She had turned her head in surprise and screamed when the Yokai's hand had clamped over her mouth and she looked up at the Yokai in fear. Is he going to talk through me again? she thought in fear. Rikuo rushed over to the Yokai's location, Tsurara following closely behind.

"Damn it! What do you think you're doing!" he yelled as he ran. The Yokai's fear started swirling around him and Karen and soon she developed that blank look she had before.

"Eh! Karen!" Tsurara said worriedly as the Yokai's fear enveloped Karen. The girl looked over and smiled creepily.

"Karen has many secrets," the Yokai said through her. "Many, many secrets."

Rikuo looked at the Yokai in surprise. Was this his power, seeing into other's minds after taking possesion of them with his fear? Rikuo gritted his teeth and made a move towards Karen, but stopped short. The Yokai had moved his hands to a position where it looked like he could easily snap her neck. Still, the frightening smile remained on Karen's lips.

"I wouldn't come any closer, if I were you," she/the Yokai said.

Tsurara watched and bit her lip, unsure what they could do, she mentally cursed herself a bit for not protecting Karen better. Rikuo himself was so fuming that he didn't insist that Tsurara should take her elswhere.

Tsurara attempted to take a step forward though she really didn't want Karen to get hurt, as annoying as she was, Rikuo obviously didn't want her to get hurt, "Hey, release her." she said trying to take initiative and do her job, Rikuo had asked her to protect Karen and she felt guilty for failing. The Yokai smiled and released the girl. She fell to the ground in front of them, seemingly passed out.

Tsurara immediatly rushed forward to Karen, forgetting what Rikuo had said about her staying behind him.

"T-Tsurara, Wait!" Rikuo shouted when he saw the Yokai's fear start to coil around the Yuki-Onna. "E-eh?!" she had not been expecting that and tried to get away from the Yokai's creepy fear, but it had already started to overwelm her senses.

"Get away from her!" Rikuo shouted and ran as fast as he could towards Tsurara. He slashed his sword along the Yokai's fear-tendrils that surrounded her. The Yokai reeled back, seemingly in pain, and Rikuo grabbed both the Yuki-Onna and Karen, holding them tightly.

Tsurara put a hand on her head, everything was really fuzzy and she couldn't think straight, she couldn't even keep herself upright. She held onto Rikuo and tried not to pass out.

"T-Tsurara, are you okay?" Rikuo asked with concern, but still with an air of calm about him.

"I-I'm not sure…" she replied and tried to regain full conciousness but couldn't, she shook her head a little, wanting to be able to help Rikuo, but at the moment, unable. Rikuo set both her and Karen down carefully, then stood back up and faced the Yokai who was currently writhing in pain. Apparently he had hit a nerve of some sort.

Tsurara protested a bit when she blurryly saw him stand up and face the Yokai alone, "W-waka…" she attempted to stand up next to him so she could help but ended up having to sit back down because the world started spinning so much. "Tsurara," Rikuo said, noticing her struggles. "Just stay there."

"B-but, I have to protect you…" she protested and stayed sitting up watching him, a slightly worried expression on her face, she didn't want him to get hurt because of her stupidity. Rikuo smiled and put his hand on her head, similarly to when he first battled Gozumaru. "It's alright, Tsurara. I think I understand his power now," he said.

She frowned a bit, not liking the idea of him fighting this Yokai alone, though she knew that at the moment she probably couldn't do a single thing to help.

The Yokai was glaring at Rikuo, his eyes full of malice and disgust for the young Yokai lord. Rikuo smirked and readied his sword for any attack the Yokai was planning. Slowly it stood up, his fear-tendrils coming off of him in waves. They were growing sharp like knives.

Then the Yokai let loose.

Tsurara watched and stayed where she was next to the unconcious Karen, her vision cleared up a little, though she was still half concious and unable to stand up or help in any way. She watched as the Yokai's tendrils whipped around, slicing anything nearby. Rikuo did his best to cut at the tendrils, but there were times when he was cut up by them. His sword, being unlike the blade Nenekirimaru, was also suffering some damage when it was hit. Rikuo grimaced at the sight of the damaged blade.

At the sight Tsurara tried to stand up again so she could help him fight, though as she struggled the world started spinning more and she ended up passing out, falling back to the ground unconcious. Rikuo noticed this and looked back in surprise.

"Tsurara?" he asked in concern, turning away from the Yokai. At the point when he was distracted by the Yuki-Onna, the Yokai attacked more forcefully, his sharp tendrils taking this opportunity to strike Rikuo in the back.

Rikuo spit a few drops of blood oon the ground as the tendrils, like knives, stabbed him. He turned and glared at the Yokai, his eyes flashing in pain. And evil grin was present on the Yokai's face, but that expression turned to fear as Rikuo started disappearing in front of his eyes. The Yokai stood frozen in place as Rikuo completely disappeared from his vision. Suddenly he felt pain erupt from his left side. The Yokai grabbed hold of his side, his face etched of pain.

Rikuo appeared behind the Yokai and rested his sword on the Yokai's shoulder. The Yokai moved his head and looked at Rikuo.

"You will never harm humans again," he said and cut through the Yokai's body the butter. It writhed in pain on the ground, it's fear dissapating as his life ended. Rikuo sheathed his sword with a sigh and stepped over the Yokai's disappearing body. He walked over to Tsurara and Karen, looking over them with concern.

Karen started to wake up and looked up at Rikuo with bleary eyes. Tsurara was still out; she had pushed herself to hard. Karen briefly looked at her limp body, but turned back to Rikuo, who had sat down next to her, when she saw that the Yuki-Onna was breathing.

"What happened?" Karen asked in fear. "And Tsurara, is she okay?"

"She's fine," Rikuo responded. "And the Yokai was talking through you again. Tsurara managed to get it to release you, but in return she was taken over. Even if it was only for a little bit, it still drained her." Karen looked down, tears forming in the corner of her eyes. When she started to weep, Rikuo looked at her in surprise.

"That was so frightening," Karen said and burrowed her head in her hands. "And you and Tsurara were hurt because of me because I was too stubborn." Rikuo awkwardly put his hand on her shoulder; like most guys, he didn't know how to deal with crying women.

"H-hey, it's okay," Rikuo tried. The girl stopped crying but curled into a ball. RIkuo sighed. "This is probably terrible timing, but I'd like to ask you about something." Karen looked up, her eyes slightly red and puffy.

When Tsurara woke up, she immediatly sat up, worried about Rikuo, though regretted it when a dizzy spell came over her. She put a hand on her head and looked around. Rikuo noticed this and scooted to her side.

"Tsurara, are you okay?" he asked. He glanced at Karen, signalling that he would ask her later. Karen nodded, her face gloomy. Tsurara looked at him and didn't even bother to answer him, quickly countering his quiestion by asking anxiously "W-waka! Are you okay!?" she was really worried about him and would feel super guilty if he was hurt because she couldn't protect him.

Rikuo smirked. "I asked you first, Tsurara," he said. She's always so protective, he thought. She frowned a bit, "B-but you're more important, and I think I'm okay." she quickly protested so she could get him to answer.

"I'm fine," he said. His eyes started to wander to her lips and he blushed. Karen saw this and her fear was replaced with a slight sense of panic. Does he remember what happened when they were drunk? she thought.

"HEY! HELLO YOKAI!" a familiar voice shouted not too far in the distance. Another voice was heard a moment later, "KIYOTSUGU GET BACK HERE!" Rikuo looked startled and stood up, holding out his hand to help Tsurara up as well. Tsurara took his hand, accepting his help up, because she wasn't sure if she could on her own.

Miya and Kitotsugu then appeared not to far away and it was obvious that Miya was annoyed with the Yokai obsessed boy. Tsurara looked at them, keeping a hand on her head, still not feeling all that good. Rikuo turned to Karen who was still sitting on the ground.

"Can you make up a cover story?" he asked, keeping an eye on the group that was coming closer. Karen nodded, Rikuo replying with only a small smile. He turned and ran away so his friends wouldn't see him. Tsurara nearly fell over again when Rikuo rushed off, she had been using him to keep her balance.

As Miya's group approached, Karen got up and looked at them. "Hey guys!" she said smiling and put a hand on Tsurara's shoulder so she wouldn't fall over. "W-what are you doing here?"

Kiyotsugu, having a weapon (a very crappily made weapon) in his hands, frowned as he looked around. "Where's the Yokai? We heard screaming and rushed over to help." Sweat formed on Karen's brow as she tried to think of a believable cover story. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head.

"Oh, there were no Yokai! We were just walking and I dropped somthing," Karen started. "It rolled all the way down the hill, and Tsurara-chan went after it, kind like she is." As she said this she patted the top of the Yuki-Onna's head, which resulted in an icy half-glare from Tsurara. Karen pulled her hand away and laughed shepishly. "So she tripped and got dirty. No major injuries or anything, just a couple bruses and cuts. I ran after her and tripped myself, though, as you can see, I suffered less than Tsurara-chan."

Kiyotsugu looked at her in confusion. "What about Nura-kun?" he asked.

"Uh, he went off to get ice for Tsurara-chan since she hit her head as well," she said quickly. Kiyotsugu, being who he his, laughed and put his hand on Karen's shoulder. "That's Nura for you!"

"Well, we can leave now," Karen said and started walking, but Kiyotsugu stopped her.

"What do you mean?" Kiyotsugu asked. "He's coming back, isn't he?" Karen looked to Tsurara for help.

"Y-yeah he's coming back, though, umm, how about we just go on ahead, he'll find us." she said and smiled a bit, trying to convince them. Kiyotsugu stilled looked unsure.

"U-um or Tsurara could call him or something? I think she has his number," Karen said as a back up, remembering that the Nura Clan was well equiped with current technology. "Yeah that works too." Tsurara said nodding. Kiyotsugu seemed to think that this was a fine solution and smiled brightly.

"Alright then! Let's go look around some more!" he shouted.

"I have to decline," Karen said.

"Me too. I'm, umm, getting tired," Tsurara said and feigned a yawn.

Kyiotsugu looked like he was about to complain, but instead sighed. "Once again I have not been blessed with the sighting of Yokai. AGAIN!" he walked back to the path, leaving the others. Karen giggled at his complaining.

Miya followed, relieved that they weren't going to look for Yokai again, if only he knew that he had two in his presense right now. She looked at Tsurara hoping she was okay, then she remembered what she said earlier when she was trying to stop Kyiotsugu. She quickly stopped and went back to Tsurara, "Tsurara-chan! I-I made a big mistake, I accidently told Kiyotsugu and the others that I was Rikuo-sama's cousin!" she whispered anxiously. Karen, after hearing this, burst out laughing.

"It's a good cover, Mi-chan. Now you have a reason to hang around Rikuo all day," she said, trying her "best" not to anger the kappa, though it looked like she was failing terribly.

Miya glared at Karen, "No, I shouldn't have said that! They were just trying to go back and find you guys but I couldn't let them so I blurted out something random trying to get them to stop. Though it didn't work very well." she rambled on, to upset with herself to ever tell Karen not to call her Mi-chan.

Tsurara was a bit surprised by Miya's statement though smiled, "Hey Miya-chan, it's okay, it was actually smart. Now you can help me protect Waka by being able to be with him even around his friends and on the way to and from school! Since they think you're his cousin they won't think it's weird like they would with me!" she said and half wished she had come up with that excuse a while back so she could've protected and been with Rikuo-sama more.

Karen nodded feriousiously in agreement. "See? See!?" she said in persistance to get Miya to agree with her and Tsurara. She was shifting back and forth between her feet, looking around. They hadn't realized it before, but she was looking really nervous.

Miya was about to respond when she noticed Karen's nervousness, "You okay?" Karen smiled faintly back at her. "Y-yeah…" she said and started walking towards the path. I had really hoped they didn't notice, she thought, her head lowered as if she were defeated.

"Karen?" Tsurara asked following, "What's wrong?", Miya was behind her. Karen turned around and put her hands up, smiling sheepishly.

"N-nothing! I promise," she insisted.

"Alright if you say so." Tsurara said, a hand still on her head, the effects from the Yokai still hadn't quite worn off.

Miya gave Karen a curious look though shrugged it off and looked forward again, and was surprised to see Kiyotsugu walking back towards them, apparently the others had kept walking but Miya, Karen, and Tsurara had stopped when Miya freaked out. When Kiyotsugu got close enough her shouted to them,"Are you guys coming?"

Miya blinked,"O-oh yeah! We're coming!" She then exchanged looks with Tsurara and Karen and they started walking again. Once out of the forest everyone said goodbye and started heading their separate ways.

Tsurara, Miya, and Karen heading back to the main house, expecting Rikuo to be home.

* * *

**I hope to be back soon. It's been pretty hectic this time of year, and AP tests are coming up :(**

**There are no guaranteed dates for when the next chapter will be out, but we are working on it!**


	8. First Day of SKULE

**Summer is over, so that means...**

**MORE UPDATES!**

* * *

Miya woke up and looked around, quickly remembering what happened the night before. Yeah there was the whole Yokai incident, but she was really happy that she had actually been noticed by the young master; that had never happened before. He had probably seen her before, though she was an easily forgotten Yokai, she went unnoticed a lot. Smiling a bit Miya got up and changed into her daily clothes, though when she left her room, humming softly to herself and ready to go start on chores she saw Tsurara and Rikuo waiting near the sakura tree. Awkwardly she went over,"Umm, Tsurara-chan, Rikuo-sama, don't you guys have to go to school?"

"Ah, yeah, Tsurara and I were going to leave once Karen showed up," Rikuo replied and looked around momentarily before turning back to Miya. "Um, do you know where she is?"

"Oh, no I don't." Miya said shaking her head a bit and looking around as well, wondering where that annoying human was. "Last time I saw her was last night."

"I'm right here!" a voice said from above them. Karen giggled as they looked up to see her sitting on the lowest branch of the sakura tree. She took in their confused looks with glee.

Miya sighed lightly and looked back at Rikuo and Tsurara,"Alright, well then have fun, I should probably go start on my chores." She said and smiled a bit before turning to leave.

"Ah, wait!" Karen called after her, leaning forward as she did so. She fell from the tree and landed on top of both Rikuo and Tsurara. "UMPH!"

"Eh?" Miya turned around when she was called to, just in time to see Karen fall on Rikuo and Tsurara. "EH!?" She rushed back over to help. "Waka! Tsurara-chan! Are you two okay?" She asked worriedly and helped them up.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Rikuo said as he turned to Tsurara. "Are you okay, Tsurara?"

"Yeah I'm okay." Tsurara replied and rubbed her head a bit smiling at Rikuo a bit, proving she was fine, then frowned slightly at Karen.

"W-what?" Karen asked sheepishly. She struggled to get up, pushing herself up with her (weak) arms.

Miya sighed softly at the fact Karen couldn't even stand up with her own strength and went over to help her up. Karen looked up at Miya and then looked away quickly. She scooted away from the Yokai and sat on her legs, pushing up. They were shaking slightly. "I'm fine…" she said.

Miya kept in another sigh of annoyance and without hesitation she reached down and grabbed Karen's hands, easily helping her up to her feet. Then she shook her head and looked back at Rikuo and Tsurara,"Alright, well if you guys don't start heading to school you'll probably be late."

"Why don't you come with us, Miya?" Rikuo suggested. "You haven't had too much experience around people, right? A school would be a perfect place."

"E-eh? I-I couldn't, I wouldn't want to be a burden to you and Tsurara-chan!" Miya exclaimed quickly, her face turning a bit red at the thought of being around a ton of people.

Tsurara then spoke up,"But wait, Miya, didn't you tell Rikuo-sama's friends yesterday you were his cousin? It would be weird if you didn't go to school."

Miya stammered, unable to counter that statement,"E-eh, b-but…"

"My cousin?" Rikuo asked in confusion.

Both Miya and Tsurara looked at Rikuo and realized they hadn't told him. Miya blushed more and stammered again,"A-ah! W-well yesterday when I was trying to keep your friends from finding you fighting the Yokai, I accidently said I lived with you, and to cover it I said I was your cousin.." She trailed off at the end and looked at her feet embarrassed. Rikuo's facial features softened up to a heartwarming smile.

"That just makes it easier for you to be around me and my friends," he said.

Miya glanced up at him a tad surprised and was greeted with his smile. The Yokai suddenly had some tears in her eyes as she was super relieved that Rikuo wasn't mad or anything that a pretty much complete stranger called herself his cousin. She quickly wiped away the tears with her sleeves and smiled a bit,"Yeah, I guess so..."

Rikuo smiled at the water yokai and then his head darted towards the gate. "Wait, what time is it?" he asked, starting to panic. _How much time do we have before school starts?_ he asked pulled out her phone and checked the time; they had 10 minutes until class started. "Eh!? We're gonna be late!"

"Crap!" Rikuo exclaimed and grabbed Tsurara's hand and started pulling her along. "I told Kiyotsugu that I'd try to be there a little earlier today!"

Tsurara was a bit surprised and stumbled after him, she blushed a tad and looked back at Miya and Karen,"Miya, change to human form! We'll have to get you and Karen enrolled at the school later!"

"Eh? Oh okay!" Miya started running after Rikuo and Tsurara while trying to change into her human form, for the second time ever. Karen followed behind, her complaints falling into the distance as they started getting ahead of her. She had never seen them run so fast before, at least, not in person.

Miya managed to change into her human form and looked back to see Karen had fallen behind. She slowed down just slightly, realizing she was running really fast, and let the human catch up. Karen was panting when she reached Miya, and she used the yokai's shoulder as a support beam while she caught her breath.

"Th-thanks," she said and then looked down the street. Both Rikuo and Tsurara were out of sight, and Karen groaned.

Miya looked forward again and sighed, hoping she remembered where Rikuo's school was, she'd only been there the one time. "Mhm, well, let's go find them…"

In this situation, Karen was hopelessly lost. From what she remembered from the manga (and she remebered a lot after reading it several times over), it didn't have any directions from one place to another. Karen inwardly cursed the author for not showing it in his creation. The two not-quite-friends-but-more-of-aquantainces ran down the sidewalk. When Karen tried to go down a different path they were on Miya dragged her back.

"I'm pretty sure it's this way!" Miya said going down another path, she really wished she had some other way to communicate with Tsurara or Rikuo, but then again, a servant type Yokai doesn't need a cell phone, all she ever did was stay at the main house and clean.

The two continued running until they came upon a large building that was Rikuo's school. Luckily, students were still entering the building, and Karen and Miya spotted Rikuo and Tsurara waiting for them by the main door.

Miya felt relief flood her emotions and she rushed over,"Sorry!" She instinctivly apologized to the two. Rikuo put his hand up and waved it back in forth in front of him, waving her apology off.

"Don't be sorry!" he said. "We left you guys behind without realizing it. I was worried about being late so I didn't think about looking back…" The young Yokai-lord trailed off, looking guilty. "I'm the one who should be sorry."

"I-it's okay Rikuo-sama! We should have kept up better." Miya said quickly feeling bad about how he felt bad. "We managed to find the school again so it's okay!"

"Yeah, Rikuo-_samaaaaa_~!" Karen said, drawing out the "sama" in a teasing way.

Miya glared half-heartedly at Karen, _I have to show respect to the young master, so shush Karen, _she mentally grumbled to herself. Rikuo smiled at the two as they started on their way towards the entrance of the school building

"Alright, we should go get Karen and Miya enrolled real fast. Rikuo-sama, you can go to class if you don't want to be late. I can do it." Tsurara said smiling a bit at him, she didn't want him to be late.

"Ah, yeah, thanks," Rikuo said. "I'm going to go meet Kiyotsugu. I'll see you guys later." The young yokai leader walked off, leaving the three girls behind as he went to see his friend.

Tsurara nodded then led Miya and Karen to the main office so she could get them enrolled. About 10 minutes later Miya and Karen were officially enrolled. Miya was in as Rikuo's cousin, keeping up that story, and Karen was just a new student. They both got their uniforms and went to change while Tsurara waited for them.

After the girls had changed they all went to class. Miya was given the same classes as Rikuo, and Karen had her own schedule, although they all had the same homeroom.

Karen sighed as she looked over her schedule, comparing it to Miya's. "I don't have any idea where these rooms are~!" she complained.

Miya shrugged, looking at her own schedule,"Me neither, although the principal said that I had the same classes as Rikuo-sama, so I guess he can help. Hey Tsurara-chan, do you have the same schedule too?" She asked curiously but went quiet when they got to the classroom, all eyes in the room instantly on the two new girls. Miya had never been around that many humans and her face quickly went red and she instinctivly hid her hands in her sleeves. Despite the face she was in human form herself.

Tsurara went and sat down in her seat next to Rikuo while the other two girls were left at the front of the room. The teacher smiled at them.

"Why hello. You two must be the new students I just got a call about. Well, come introduce yourselves."

Miya froze and shoved Karen forwards a bit,"You can go first."

"Wow, thanks," Karen whispered and stepped forward, a bright smile plastered on her face. "Hajimemashite. My name is Karen. Thank you for having me in your class," she said and bowed. When she stood back up, she grinned evily at her companion and pushed Miya in front of her.

Miya stumbled forwards and looked at the class feeling super awkward. She recognized a couple of the students as ones from last night, though that was it, aside from them, Rikuo, and Tsurara, she knew no one. "U-u-umm, h-hajimemashite, my name's Miya. P-please take care of me." She stammered out and bowed to the class polietly.

The teacher smiled kindly at her new students and pointed to two seats that were (thankfully) near Rikuo in the back. "Why don't you two sit over there by Rikuo? I understand he's your cousin, Miya," she said.

"O-oh, umm yeah, alright." Miya nodded a bit then went and sat down next to Rikuo. He smiled at the two girls, along with Tori, Maki, Shima, and Kana, though Kana looked a little confused.

The teacher smiled at Miya and Karen as well then started class. Karen was surprised at how the class ran. Being a student in a Japanese school when she had only ever experieced the syle of learning in an American school was a new experience for her, but she knew she shouldn't have been as surprised as she was.

Class went by quickly and soon it was lunchtime. Miya had awkwardly been hanging near Rikuo during the classes and was still no where close to comfortable around humans, expecially this many. She was super relieved when Tsurara showed back up, another Yokai helped make her feel better. On the other hand, Karen was being very social with the other kids in the class, and by the start of lunch she already had several invitations to eat lunch with them, which she kindly declined to sit with Rikuo and the others.

Miya, Tsurara, Karen, and Rikuo all went up to the roof to sit with Rikuo's friends and eat lunch. When they got there everyone was already there and Kiyotsugu was complaining about how he hadn't seen any Yokai at all the night before. Miya sighed, relieved, since that had been her job, to make sure he didn't find any Yokai; aside from the 2 that were hanging around him, and Rikuo.

Miya stayed standing a ways away while the others all sat down with them and laughed a bit at Kiyotsugu's complaints. Despite knowing these humans more than her classes, she still didn't know how to interact with them. She could barely interact with other Yokai at the main house, how could she interact with humans? Tsurara looked back and saw Miya, along with her awkwardness, and waved her over, trying to get the Kappa-girl to sit down next to her.

Miya shook her head awkwardly, she'd rather stand back a bit and go unnoticed, yes, for once she'd rather be unnoticed than noticed. Unfortunately for her, a certain boy just happened to notice her.

"Miya! How's it goin'?" Kiyotsugu asked as he, followed by Shima, walked over to her. Miya looked at him a bit surprised and felt even more awkward, remembering the 'trip' last night. "O-oh hi Kiyotsugu… I'm good..." She muttered her cheeks flushing slightly as she averted eye contact a bit, her awkward shyness emerging.

"Wonderful! Hmmm… last nights adventure left me in high spirits, but, unfortunately we didn't see any Yokai…" he said and then grabbed Miya's shoulders. "I was hoping to show you, our new member, that Yokai do in fact exist. Will you give me a second chance?"

When he grabbed her shoulders she looked back at him a bit startled and could feel her face go an even brighter red,"U-u-umm y-yeah. Of course..." She stammered softly.

"Fantastic!" he shouted, removing his hands from her shoulders and grabbing her hands instead. "I promise this next time we will see a Yokai! I already have it all planned out!"

Miya just nodded in response, now too flustered to say anything in response. She had to avert eye contact a moment later before she got any more flustered. Suddenly Karen came up behind Miya and jumped on her back.

"Whatcha talkin' about? Another Yokai thingamajig?" she asked Kiyotsugu. Miya stumbled forward in surprise when she was jumped on and nearly fell onto Kiyotsugu, luckily she managed to catch herself. "K-Karen!"

"What?" Karen asked as she righted herself. "We're friends, aren't we? I'd say under the code of friendship, I am allowed to jump on my friends, surprising them enough that they fall onto cute boys that they secretly harbor a crush for!" Karen was slowly pushing the Kappa girl closer to Kiyotsugu, a smirk on her face.

Miya's face went scarlet but she was unable to retort for once, her mind blanking on how to speak. She then realized just how close her stumble, and Karen's pushing, had caused her to get to Kiyotsugu. She was pretty much inches away,"U-umm, ah…" She muttered inaudibly and wondered why she wasn't moving away, her face growing redder by the second.

Kiyotsugu himself had no idea what to do. Steadily his face became red and looked around awkwardly.

"C'mon, you two!" Karen exclaimed with one final push to Miya's back, causing the Kappa girl to stumble forward.

Miya squeaked in surprised and fell forward into Kiyotsugu, unable to catch herself she grabbed onto the closest object, which just so happened to be the boy in front of her, as a result, they both fell to the ground. Kiyotsugu stared blankly at the sky before an awkward smile appeared on his face. He started to laugh.

Karen turned around and did a mini fist pump. "Yes!" she whispered.

Miya blushed more and stammered out a sorry before he started laughing. She was confused at first then couldn't help the small smile that crossed her face as she got up, her face still as red as a rose though.

"Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm alright."

"That's… uh, good!" Kiyotsugu said. "Yeah, good!"

Miya nodded and helped him up,"A-are you okay?" She asked and looked around, realization dawning as she saw that everyone was watching them, her face went a deep scarlet of embarrassment and she hid her eyes with her bangs. Kiyotsugu himself was red, which was a very rare sight to see.

Karen noticed Tsurara glaring at her and smiled sheepishly. She mouthed a sorry and quickly hid behind Rikuo's back. Tsurara's glare only intensified and if her mere look could freeze people, Karen would be a block of ice.

Miya wished she could disappear at that moment, or turn invisible, or something, anything to get away from the stares. Unable to handle it anymore she hurridely hid behind Kiyotsugu, him being the closest person not staring. Kiyotsugu looked at her for a moment with a blush and then turned back to the rest of the group. Shima, Torii, and Maki were staring at him more intensly than the others, and Kiyotsugu felt a drop of sweat roll down his neck.

Miya kept cowering behind him, she didn't know that being the center of attention was this intense, she peeked around him and saw they were all still staring and hid again.

Torii leaned over to Maki and started whispering with her. "Does Kiyotsugu like Miya?"

"I dunno, it looks like it.." Maki replied quietly.

"I thought… he was too obsessed with Yokai to have time to like someone."

"U-um, you guys?" Rikuo said, grabbing the other's attention. "It's not very polite to stare."

Kana looked at Rikuo then nodded,"Yeah, besides, umm, weren't you guys talking about the next Yokai search?" She said as well, in an attempt to distract them more.

"R-right!" Kiyotsugu exclaimed. "There seems to be a number of killings somewhere near-by-"

"Wait, killings?" Torii asked timidly. "That's a little extreme, isn't it?"

Maki nodded, "Yeah, that seems a bit too dangerous, Kiyotsugu are you sure it's safe for us to go search there?" She asked a bit worried herself.

Miya and Tsurara both exchanged looks that said,'_Killings? Not good.' _Tsurara then shared the same worried look with Rikuo. He looked like he was deep in thought as he listened to Kiyotsugu explain further.

"You see, people are going missing a few at a time, never to be seen alive again. Their bodies are found near the water, but there's no evidence of drowning being the cause of death, so water doesn't have anything to do with," Kiyotsugu said.

"When did this become a murder mystery type of thing?" Karen asked under her breath, her voice quivering a little. She was honestly still a bit shaken up from her last encounter with a dangerous Yokai, just last night, though she tried not to show it.

"My theory is that a Yokai is the cause of this!" Kiyotsugu declared, and the rest of the group sweat-dropped.

"U-umm, I don't think that'd be safe, what if we get caught up in the killings…?" Miya piped up, thinking this was a bad idea for Rikuo's human friends to be dealing with. She knew the Yokai at the Nura house could handle it though.

"Don't worry, Miya!" Kiyotsugu said with a big smile. "As long as I'm here, you have nothing to fear!"

"I-is Kiyotsugu… flirting?" Torii asked quietly to Maki. She was completely shocked. Maki nodded and whispered back,"I think he is...though...I've never seen him flirting, though it looks like flirting to me."

Miya blushed a bit and looked away shyly, going silent again, not knowing how to reply to his big, cute smile.

Tsurara was also a bit surprised, both to see Kiyotsugu flirting, and Miya kinda flirting back. Miya was the shiest person she had ever met!

Rikuo, oblivious to the little flirting sesion going on in front of him, took this moment to finally speak up. "Listen, it's too dangerous," he said with a commanding tone.

Everyone now turned and looked at Rikuo, Tsurara and Miya nodded in agreement, both of them actually knowing it was probably Yokai actually causing these killings.

"Even if a Yokai was the cause of this, we're too young to be caught up in a murder case!" Rikuo looked furious now. He cared deeply about his friends, and sometimes he hated how oblivious they were to how life-risking their Yokai hunts were.

Everyone looked at him startled; most had never seen him this angry before.

Kiyotsugu, on the other hand, smiled, an air of confidence surrounding him. "You don't have to worry," he said. "I've got a special weapon that can be used against Yokai that-"

"Damn it, Kiyotsugu!" Rikuo yelled, surprising everyone. "Do you really think your 'special weapons' will do anything against a Yokai? You haven't even come face-to-face with a Yokai!"

Everyone blinked, Maki spoke up a second later,"You say it like you've seen more than we have." She stated a bit confused. Tsurara and Miya both freaked out a little, and rushed over to try and calm Rikuo down, if they didn't he might slip up and talk about Yokai, more than he just had. "Rikuo-sama, calm down.." Tsurara said softly.

Rikuo looked pained and turned away. He muttered an apology under his breath, as Kiyotsugu stared in shocked silence. Karen, in an act to lighten up the tense mood, waved her hand comically in front of his face. Kiyotsugu blinked and finally focused.

Tsurara watched him and looked at the others awkwardly, trying to figure out what to say now as the others were all startled and confused. She then looked back at Rikuo and saw just how upset he was. She puts a hand on his shoulder and gets him to look at her,"RIkuo-sama, it's alright, remember, they have you as a friend." She whispered softly, trying to make him feel a bit better.

Rikuo looked at her and sighed. "I'm… I'm sorry, Tsurara. I didn't mean to freak out…" he whispered back, but although he smiled, his hands clenched into fists. He cared deeply for his friends, but how could he protect them if they were trying to find the very things he was trying to protect them from? Maybe, if he could go back and train in Tono, he could get stronger.

"It's okay…" Tsurara knew how he felt, though her feelings weren't as strong as his towards his friends, though she did worry about their safety sometimes.

"Tsurara… I'm going back to Tono for a while, okay?" Rikuo whispered. "Can I leave you and Miya to protect them while I'm gone?"

"Eh-!? Ah, yes of course we can." She was a bit surprised by his sudden declaration though quickly regained composure and nodded. Rikuo smiled.

"Thank you," he said.

"Don't forget me, Rikuo-sama," Karen said from behind the half-yokai. Both Tsurara and Rikuo jumped.

"I was thinking that you were one of the ones who needed protecting," Rikuo said.

"Oh, don't think so lowly of me, Rikuo-sama," Karen said with a frown.

Tsurara nodded and looked at Karen then at the others, who had kinda recovered from Rikuo's outburst. Miya noticed that Rikuo had calmed down and looked over at Tsurara, who came over and whispered that Rikuo was going to go back to Tono.

"Miya, I can trust you to protect them, right?" Rikuo asked.

Miya glanced at him a bit surprised then nodded,"Yes!"


	9. Awkwardness

Miya, Karen, and Tsurara were walking around RIkuo's room helping him pack up his stuff for while he was in Tono. Though Miya paused when she was picking up a folded piece of clothing from the laundry she had brought in the day before for him and dropped it. "Oh no!" She exclaimed, startling the others. "My chores!" She then ran out of the room without another words, confusing the others for a moment before Tsurara realized it.

"Oh that's right! Miya isn't one of the more, well, important Yokai in the house, so she has chores to do on a daily basis. and school today was a new thing so her chores were pushed aside." Tsurara said frowning, feeling a bit bad because now Miya had a ton of chores to catch up on.

"Oh?" Karen asked and looked at the door Miya had just left throught. "Do you think she needs any help with them? After all, they've probably piled up since she's been away at school."

Tsurara shook her head, "No, she won't let us help, they're her duties so there's no way she would let us help."

Rikuo nodded in agreement. "Even though I never really realized before, I've talked with Kappa and the other Yokai who know her well, and they said that she is one of the hardest workers among them all."

Karen smiled. "Well, that's very admirable."

Tsurara nodded a bit and smiled lightly, then picked up the clothes Miya dropped and put them with Rikuo's other stuff.

Miya ran back to her small room and changed to her simpler clothes that she normally wore then went and started working on her chores, working as fast as she could while still getting the job done. As she finished washing a bunch of clothes she carried the now clean clothes back inside and bumped into Kejoro and stumbled, nearly dropping all the still damp clothes,"Ah~!" She stumbled and managed to balance the basket again, letting out a sigh of relief when the clothes all remained in the basket.

"Whoah, are you alright?" Kejoro asked. "I'm sorry for bumping into you, but you sure are carrying a lot."

"Y-yeah I'm alright! Sorry for bumping into you…" Miya said softly, a bit embarrassed for running into him. She then adjusted the heavy basket into a more comfortable position.

"I'm pretty sure I bumped into you, Miya-chan," Kejoro said with a wave of her hand. Suddenly there was a large crash from the kitchen and Kejore sweat-dropped, her head turning quickly towards the area where the loud sound came from, then back to Miya. "I'm sorry, I need to go assist Wakana-sama in the kitchen. Even though she tries to help, we end up with more of a mess."

Miya jumped a bit at the crash then nodded, giving a light smile,"Go right ahead, I have quite a bit of stuff to do." She said and watched Kejero hurry off. The kappa-girl sighed lightly then hurriedly went back to work.

A while later she was working on her last chore, it was pretty late and starting to get dark as she took the clothes off the line to take inside and fold. Miya stretched a bit as she got the last article of clothing off the line and dropped it in the basket.

Though before she could take anything inside she heard a noise and looked up,"Huh?" She frowned an narrowed her eyes as she looked around. After a second of silence the noise came again and two Yokai that she didn't recognize came into view. She instantly went on alert and looked around for anyone else of the main house. Though she realized that everyone was probably inside eating supper, no one else was outside. Miya turned her gaze back to the Yokai, who had noticed her standing there and were clearly ready to fight.

She got in a fighting stance as well and took a step back, knowing her blade was behind her on the ground. The second one of the other Yokai moved she had already kicked her sword up and into her hand, drawing it from the sheath and using it to counter the attack. The Yokai had kicked out his leg and bounced off the blade, emitting clear surprise at how quick she countered. The first of the Yokai grinned.

"It seems that the Nura Clan has some well-trained underlings after all, don't they, Bakemono," he said. His companion, the bakemono, nodded its head in agreement.

Miya glared at them and stayed on guard,"What are you two doing here?"

"Don't worry, we were just leaving," the Yokai said with a smile, and both he and the bakemono disappeared. "Hey!" Miya protested a bit though they vanished before she could stop them. She kept her blade out for a moment and looked around then sheathed it. "Dang it…" She had failed to find out who they were. She sighed and took the laundry inside, trying to decide to tell someone or not. She decided against it though, but she would keep an eye out for a while.

As she walked inside, she heard her name be called and she turned. Karen was panting a little; either she had come a long way, or she really didn't have much stamina. Miya saw it as the latter.

"Miya-chan, Rikuo-sama is leaving," Karen informed her. "We're all seeing him off, so I came to get you so you didn't miss out."

"Oh, but I need to go fold and put this away…" Miya said pushing her thoughts to the back of her mind and looked at the laundry. "Though I suppose I can see him off real fast." She decided and just carried the basket of clothes with her to see Rikuo off.

Karen glared at the basket Miya held in her arms and sighed. "Come on, Miya-chan. Don't bring your chores along." She grabbed the basket and tore it from Miya's grip. "We can leave it here."

"Eh!? Wait no! I can't just leave it here!" Miya exclaimed and tried to get the basket back from Karen.

"NO NO NO NO NO!" Karen shouted and pushed Miya out the door. "There's no time for that. We're off to see Rikuo… path of destiny… like a yellow brick road… man, I was trying to make some sort of reference, but it didn't really work. Nevermind that. Let's go, Miya-chan, or we'll miss him!"

"B-but~!" Miya protested as she was pushed out the door, and despite being stronger than Karen, she wasn't able to get back and grab her laundry, so she huffed and went along with her. As they walked, Miya didn't fail to notice the grin that spread along Karen's face.

The kappa girl grumbled under her breath and kept walking until they found where Rikuo was being seen off. The Yokai were gathered at the gates, and Rikuo seemed to be having trouble convincing Karasu-Tengu that he would be fine. His grandfather, on the other hand, was practically shooing Rikuo away, encouraged that he was making the right decision. Rikuo was stuck between two opposing forces… and it seemed to be taking a big toll on him.

Miya saw what was going on and sighed, wondering where Tsurara was, she would go help out but she didn't feel like that was her place. Speaking of Tsurara she showed up a moment later and went over, assisting RIkuo in getting Karasu-Tengu to let Rikuo go, she knew he needed to do this to feel better.

"Hyaa... thanks, Tsurara," Rikuo said, and then turned to the rest of the Yokai who had come to see him off. "And thank you, everyone. I'll be back soon."

Everyone waved and said their temporary 'good-bye's' as he left. Tsurara spotted Miya and Karen and went over smiling lightly,"Hey, did you get your chores done Miya-chan?"

Miya huffed and glanced at Karen annoyed before shaking her head,"Not quite, I still need to finish."

"I'm going to help youuuuuuuuuu~!" Karen declared. "And you can't say anything that will keep me from doing it!"

"No. You can't help." Miya frowned and turned away, she was not going to allow Karen to help in any way. "I'll be right back, besides you don't know how to fold this clothing properly or where it belongs." She stated, becoming very stubborn about this situation.

"I can LEARN!" Karen said, doing her best to state the obvious.

"Nope. No need. Besides it's my task, not yours." Miya turned her down immediately, crossing her arms. Karen glared and grabbed Miya's shoulders.

"I. Am. HELPING YOUUUUU~!"

Miya moved away,"No." She frowned and looked at Tsurara who had just been standing there watching. She blinked and shook her head,"Ah, Karen, do you not remember our discussion earlier, just let Miya-chan finish her chore. Besides you should probably go get some rest."

"Why would I need rest?!" Karen exclaimed, then immediately calmed down when she realized who she was shouting at. "Um, s-sorry Tsurara!"

Tsurara was a bit startled that she was yelled at though smiled a bit and waved it off,"It's alright, though it's late, that's why you need rest." She guestured to the now dark sky. Miya nodded and yawned without meaning to, quite tired herself after all the hard work she had been doing.

"Mmmm… I guess you're right." Karen said and then turned to Miya. "Miya-chan, I am going to help you, okay? That way, you will get done faster, and we can go to bed sooner!"

"No, really I'm fine, it'll be faster on my own since I know how to do it." Miya said sighing and shaking her head. Karen frowned and threw up her hands in defeat.

"Fine! I guess I'll get to sleep while you stay up working!" Suddenly her eyes turned all dreamy as she walked back towards the house. "Ah, sleep. I love sleep, and dreams, and more sleeeeeeeeeeeee-"

Tsurara and Miya flinched as Karen fell flat on her face and promptly fell asleep. They exchanged looks and Tsurara went to go take Karen to bed while Miya went to finish her task.

Tsurara carried the sleeping girl to her room and laid her down then left, a bit tired herseld.

Miya went and got the basket then took it away to a table where she folded it all then quietly went around the main house putting away everyone's clothes. After she was done she sighed and went outside where she got in the river to relax a bit, submurging into the cool water. She smiled as Kappa rose from the water.

"Hello, Miya. Are you doing well?"

"Hi Kappa-san! Yeah I'm doing pretty well, how are you doing?" She asked looking at him.

"I am doing well. Rikuo-sama left for Tono earlier, yes?" Kappa asked.

"Mhm, I wonder how long he'll be gone." Miya responded nodding.

Kappa cupped his hands and gathered water in his webbed hands, letting the water fall over his head. "It depends. How strong does he want to get? He wants to protect his friends, yes?"

"I'm not sure how strong he want's to get, though yeah, he wanted to get stronger for his friends. They're quite something, I'd heard about them, but after meeting them it's amazing."

"It shouldn't be too long, then," Kappa said. "He already has shown a lot of strength for his friends."

Miya nodded,"Mhm, though until he comes back Tsurara-chan and I have to protect his friends, and I think that's to be pretty hard. Kiyotsugu is full of crazy ideas."

"I see…"

"Yeah, though he's still pretty nice…" She added, unaware of what she just said, or the way she said it, all paired with her kinda dreamy look as she pictured Kiyotsugu.

"I see…"

"He's also funny...and cute…"

"I… see…"

She suddenly realized what she had said and her face went bright red,"A-ah!"

"... Miya…" Kappa said. "I see… you like Rikuo-sama's friend?"

"N-n-n-no of course not!" Miya blushed harder and covered her face with her hands.

"... I doubt that…"

"K-Kappa-san!" She huffed at his suspicions, beyond embarrssed at the moment.

"What do you want me to say?" Kappa asked and shrugged his shoulders.

"I-I don't know…"

"Then say the truth… or is it, 'tell the truth?'"

"...I'm pretty sure it's 'tell the truth'..." Is all she said.

"..."

She nodded a bit and ducked under the water until it reached below her eyes as she looked at him, the water hiding the remains of her deep blush. Kappa stared at her.

"Tell the truth."

"...Do I have to…?"

"Yes."

"..." She blushed harder then spoke softly,"...Well...I do...kinda like him…"

He stared at her. "You told the truth. Good for you."

"Kappa…" She huffed, too embarrassed to remember to add the san like she usually did. Kappa splashed water onto her in response. "Hey!" She shook her head a bit then splashed him back. After it hit him on the head he sighed and ducked under the water.

Miya smiled a bit and figured she should get out and get some sleep, her face still slightly pink from their conversation. "Night Kappa-san." She said softly and got out of the water and went to her room.


End file.
